Problem (50 words):
Augmented Reality (AR) is an emerging technology that has been continually growing and evolving. For people who don’t know what Augmented Reality is, it is a technology that takes a computer generated image and superimposes it onto the real world for users to view through a screen (Miriam Webster). Some examples of this are Snapchat face filters and the Pokemon Go game. Moreover, in 2015, there were 0.2 billion people using AR and that number has now grown to about 1.73 Billion in 2020 (Statista). With the amount of users growing everyday, it is important that we start looking for ways to make Augmented Reality more accessible for those with disabilities especially those who are physically and visually impaired.
Affected populations, salient social identities (100 words):
According to the World Health Organization, over 1 billion people in the world have some sort of disability with about 40.7 million people with physical disabilities (CDC). A lot of people with physical disabilities are unable to play the same games or use the same technologies that abled people can use. This was shown in a really interesting article I found that touched on Pokemon Go and if it is even accessible. Especially because in order to keep leveling up in Pokemon Go you have to hatch eggs which require you to travel certain distances or walk to different Pokestops (Tecla). According to Game Accessibility, over 92% of people with disabilities also are gamers. This huge overlap between those with physical impairments and those that are gamers are staggering. Since AR is being introduced into more and more games, it is important to see how we can make this technology more accessible.
Relevance (50 words):
This is important to the larger community because I believe that AR has the power to be a super useful tool for people with physical impairments. I think that AR has the potential to be implemented into a lot of applications that can help people with disabilities with every day actions. It would be in things like google maps, communication, or games that include AR to help make their lives easier.
Technology background (225 words):
Augmented Reality was coined by a Boeing researcher named Tom Caudell. However, the first AR project was created in 1968, by Ivan Sutherland, a Harvard Professor. He created a project that was not considered AR, but later helped develop and lead towards more AR technologies. The first 100% working AR project was created by Morton Heilig in 1957. He invented something called the Sensorama which delivered visuals, sounds, vibration and smells to the user. In this day and age, AR is used by a lot of companies to do almost everything. From Snapchat face filters, to communication, to gaming, to open heart surgery. AR is allowing people to do things they never were before. The way AR is created is by using 3D modeling assets, using trigger objects, or having a software determine planes in your environment. A lot of people who develop augmented reality use Unity in combination with Vuforia or ARKit. A lot of AR is made through facial recognition softwares or 3D scans of your room as well. I am currently learning how to develop AR for another class. In this class, I am creating an AR project that will teach you more about the current democratic candidates in order to help people be more educated before they vote.The technology to create AR is really accessible to students and professionals as all the softwares you need to use in order to develop the project are free which is why there is currently an influx of AR everywhere.
Diversity considerations (275 words):
The most pressing issues for those with disabilities in relation to AR is the spacing, location, and sound. A lot of game developers do not think of these things when they make games. They have a bias toward abled people and what they are capable of doing or how they are able to move freely without any limitations. I think this brings a sense of oppression and isolation to those with impairments because bigger gaming companies don’t always beta test their games on people with disabilities. According to Things Entertainment and Tecla, the best things to do to keep those with disabilities in mind when designing games is to think about Spatial/Positional Sound Effects, Adjustable Location of AR Objects, and to Avoid Space Conflicts. Spatial/Positional Sound Effects is important as game designers need to “create sounds that mimic location of augmented objects” (Tecla). This allows those with mobility impairments to locate the objects without having to move constantly. For the Adjustable Location, designers should let users be able to move the objects they need to interact with to prevent users with impairments from “having to access areas that are restricted to wheelchair users”'. Lastly, designers should allow objects in games to be modified so that users can change the “type of movement, the angle of movement, and the direction of movement needed for interaction”.
Overall, this shows that a lot of game designers design games for a certain archetype of an abled person. There seems like there’s privilege given to people who are seen as usual gamers. I think the gaming industry, as big as it is, needs to take into account those with disabilities. In this video, it can be shown that Pokémon Go cannot be played with accessibility gestures that are provided on the I Phone which shows that these companies did not beta test the games they are putting out. Basically, gaming companies need to take into account what people with visual and physical impairments need to be able to play their games.
Using AR technologies to find what is on a higher shelf
Current solutions (100 words):
One company that has really been working with accessibility and AR is Microsoft. Microsoft developed the Hololens which is a headset that allows you to be immersed in AR. Here is a picture to describe what you can do with the Hololens (Microsoft).
Furthermore, Microsoft's Hololens has a feature that assists blind users by giving them audio prompts. It gives those who are visually impaired, sound and audio prompts to help them navigate everyday tasks. Microsoft’s vision for the future is to have the AR technology help scan visually impaired people’s environment and provide them with audio cues of what’s around them so they can be aware. This system that they have currently implemented has been super successful. The downside to the Hololens is that it costs $3,500 so, it is not accessible to everyone price wise.
Microsoft also created the canetroller which “enables people with visual impairments to navigate virtual reality with a haptic and auditory cane”. I know this was developed for their VR system however, they have said that they would be able to use the same technology for AR. The canetroller allows those with visual impairments to be able to use a cane to be able to navigate a virtual world by allowing them to still know where they are going in the real world. Overall, this project was successful in its testing however, it is super bulky as seen in the picture below.
So, it hasn’t been mass produced for people to actually use. I reached out to the people who created the Canetroller and one responded saying she did not have time for an interview but provided me with extra information about the Canetroller.
Your solution (200 words):
The solutions I would propose would be to create an AR game that is more audio oriented. By this, I mean that you can play the game by just using your voice alone. I think that this would help people with physical and visual impairments as they can use the audio features to still enjoy the game as much as people without impairments. Another thing I would do would be to make the game available on all types of devices especially so that people with physical disabilities are able to choose what device works best for them. Furthermore, I think a game that doesn’t require you to move the phone, would also be beneficial for people with physical disability. Therefore, it should be able to use and understand the gestures from the accessibility settings on the I Phone. Moreover, while reading The Senses: Design Beyond Vision by Ellen Lupton and Andrea Lipps. I came across some really interesting posters on page 203 that talk about how to design for people with disabilities. The book made me realize that the games created need to be accessible by screen readers so the code of the game has to follow a linear logical layout, and the game should be able to be played with just a keyboard instead of mouse or screen use. Furthermore with the colors of the game, when designing for users with low vision, the book described how you need to use good colors that contrasts with a sizable font. Also, you should allow the game to be zoomed in if needed. Overall, these are just some solutions that I think would be applicable for a game to have in order to be accessible for people with visual, audio, and physical impairments.
Interview recap (150 words):
I interviewed Adaora Udoji, who is a media innovator. She currently works at the RLab, the nation’s first city-funded center for research, education and entrepreneurship in virtual and augmented reality and related technologies, and she is an adjunct professor at NYU Tisch’s ITP. I was referred to her by my professor, Carla Giannis, who told me that Adaora has a lot of experience and knowledge in the fields of AR and accessibility. We talked about how she began working in TV and how she was always interested in the newest technology and the future of it. So, she went from working in TV to creating a startup where she works with fortune 500 companies who are looking to get more involved with emerging technologies like AR and VR. She also said that her background in TV is what led her to continue in her journey of storytelling and visuals. Some of the most important points she went over were how making things more accessible for those with disabilities helps everyone. She noted how making a game that was mostly audio based was important because it would be easier for those with visual impairments to play. However, this also helps people who aren’t visually impaired as well. Another thing that she said that really stuck out to me was you will never be able to create a technology that is fully accessible to every type of disability. Which made me really think more about my solution - was I trying to include too many things? She talked about how certain AR projects are made for certain disabilities. So, an AR project that was created to help someone with dyslexia won’t help someone who is blind. She also talked about how it is amazing that AR is such a new technology but people everywhere are constantly innovating and finding new ways for it to help people with disabilities. It’s not 10 years in the future, it's now. Which is amazing and really inspiring.
Aadora Udoji
Conclusion: (100 words):
If I was going to continue to work on my solution, I would definitely try to talk to someone who was visually or physically impaired so I could get their input on the product to make sure I was heading in the right direction and that the product would actually work for them. I would also do a lot more research on the solutions that were already being created to see if anything was similar to what I want to make. Moreover, I would definitely narrow down what I want to do and see what was actually possible to turn into reality. I know it is not the best thing to think about, but a lot of AR technology is still so expensive that it is not available to everyone to buy. So, I want to create a headset that is at a price range where the average person could get their hands on it. The only problem is, I don’t know if that is currently possible because AR is still an emerging technology.
Works Cited
“Around 92% of People with Impairments Play Games despite Difficulties.” Game Accessibility, www.game-accessibility.com/documentation/around-92-of-people-with-impairments-play-games-despite-difficulties/.
“Augmented Reality.” Merriam-Webster, Merriam-Webster, www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/augmented reality.
“Augmented Reality and Accessibility.” Tecla, 20 Feb. 2018, gettecla.com/blogs/news/augmented-reality-and-accessibility.
Coldewey, Devin. “HoloLens Acts as Eyes for Blind Users and Guides Them with Audio Prompts.” TechCrunch, TechCrunch, 29 May 2018, techcrunch.com/2018/05/29/hololens-acts-as-eyes-for-blind-users-and-guides-them-with-audio-prompts/.
“Disability.” World Health Organization, World Health Organization, 20 Jan. 2020, www.who.int/disabilities/en/.
“FastStats - Disabilities or Limitations.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 3 May 2017, www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/disability.htm.
“HoloLens 2-Pricing and Options: Microsoft HoloLens.” HoloLens 2-Pricing and Options | Microsoft HoloLens, www.microsoft.com/en-us/hololens/buy.
Lupton, Ellen, and Andrea Lipps. The Senses: Design beyond Vision. Princeton Architectural Press, 2018.
Statista Research Department. “Global Mobile Augmented Reality (AR) Users 2023.” Statista, 27 Feb. 2020, www.statista.com/statistics/1098630/global-mobile-augmented-reality-ar-users/.
Zhao, Yuhang, et al. “Enabling People with Visual Impairments to Navigate Virtual Reality with a Haptic and Auditory Cane Simulation.” Microsoft Research, 22 Feb. 2020, www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/publication/enabling-people-visual-impairments-navigate-virtual-reality-haptic-auditory-cane-simulation-2/.