Understanding the Information Needs of People Who Are Blind or Visually Impaired

The goal of this project is to obtain a nuanced understanding of the strategies that people who are blind or visually impaired (BVI) employ to perform different instrumental activities of daily living (iADLs).

Identifying useful and relevant visual cues that could support these iADLs, especially when the task involves some level of scene understanding, orientation, and mobility, will be essential to the success of near-future visual accessibility aids.

Project Team

Project Leads:

Principal Investigator:

Michael Beyeler

Assistant Professor

Publications

We introduce VisionAI, a mobile application designed to enhance the in-store shopping experience for individuals with vision impairments.

Our interview study found a significant gap between researcher expectations and implantee experiences with visual prostheses, underscoring the importance of focusing future research on usability and real-world application.

We present a mixed-methods approach that combines semi-structured interviews with a follow-up behavioral study to understand current and potential future use of technologies for daily activities around the home, especially for cooking.

We present a systematic literature review of 227 publications from 106 different venues assessing the potential of XR technology to further visual accessibility.

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