Research

• ACM CHI 2021
• Exploring Technology Design for Students with Vision Impairment in the Classroom and Remotely
• Abstract: Teachers of the Visually Impaired (TVIs) teach academic and functional living skills simultaneously to prepare students with vision impairment to be successful and independent. Current educational tools primarily focus on academic instruction rather than this multifaceted approach needed for students. Our work aims to understand how technology can integrate behavioral skills, like independence, and support TVIs in their preferred teaching strategy. We observed elementary classrooms at a school for the blind for six weeks to study how educators design lessons and use technology to supplement their instruction in different subjects. After the observational study, we conducted remote interviews with educators to understand how technology can support students in building academic and behavioral skills in-person and remotely. Educators suggested incorporating audio feedback that motivates students to play and learn consistently, student progress tracking for parents and educators, and designing features that help students build independence and develop collaborative skills.

• ACM ASSETS 2021
• "It is fascinating to make these beasts fly": Understanding Visually Impaired People's Motivation and Needs for Drone Piloting
• Abstract: Drones have become fixtures in commerce, safety efforts, and in homes as a leisure activity. Researchers have started to explore how drones can support people with disabilities in piloting and serve as assistive devices. Our work focuses on people with vision impairment and investigates what motivates them to fly drones. We administered a survey to visually impaired adults that gauged general interest in drone piloting and previous experience with drones. From the 59 survey responses, we interviewed 13 participants to elaborate on how they envision using drones and how different feedback and modes of piloting can make the flying experience more accessible. We found that our participants had overarching interests in aviation, trying new technology, environment exploration, and finding collaborative activities to do with their sighted family members, which extended to an interest in piloting drones. This research helps lay groundwork for design scenarios and accessible features for future drones.

• ACM CHI 2020
• BrailleBlocks: Computational Braille Toys for Collaborative Learning
• Abstract: Braille literacy has fallen in recent years, and many blind children now grow up without learning Braille. However, learning Braille can increase employment chances and improve literacy skills. We introduce BrailleBlocks, a system to help visually impaired children learn and practice Braille alongside a sighted parent. BrailleBlocks comprises a set of tangible blocks and pegs, each block representing a Braille cell, and an associated application with games. The system automatically tracks and recognizes the blocks so that parents can follow along even if they cannot read Braille. We conducted a user study to test BrailleBlocks with five families, with five parents and six visually impaired children. The contributions of this work are a novel approach to Braille education toys, observations of how visually impaired children and sighted parents used this system together, their insights on current issues with Braille educational tools, and actionable feedback for future Braille-based learning tools.