TEst the tech: A vr game for the visually impaired
Using the design process to create a new technology to help solve information problems for an underserved group: the visually impaired.
Problem Statement
The first step of the design process is to narrow down the group of people you want to help. My group began our brainstorm process by thinking about types of identities that are important to us. We finally decided to focus our work on helping people with intellectual and developmental disabilities because this was an area my group was passionate about, for example I am on the executive team for the UW chapter of Special Olympics a group that works to promote the inclusion of people with intellectual disabilities through competitive, unified sports.
It was important to pin point a specific yet meaningful community, and we chose to work with people who have degenerative eye conditions because one of our team members has a family member who is visually impaired.
“We are aiming to serve visually impaired people of all age groups, specifically, people with a decreased ability to see that causes problems not fixable by usual means, like eyeglasses, but are not completely blind. Common causes of visual impairment include refractive error, cataract, and glaucoma. We are hoping to build a solution that will help these people deal with problems related to contrast and transition from light to dark.”
With our focus group decided we conducted some desk research on the topic, information problem areas, and existing solutions:
“There are currently a few existing solutions that help increase functioning in dark, low-contrast settings for the visually impaired. MicroOptical’s low vision program came up with a comfortable headset that resembles everyday eyeglasses. This headset integrates a camera and see-through display, which helps maximize low-light sensitivity and includes auxiliary LEDs for extra illumination when needed. Another group of researchers tested their version of “night vision goggles” on twenty night-blind subjects and found that the use of the goggles significantly increased nighttime mobility in dark, outdoor environments by decreasing the risk of coming into contact with obstacles. Another solution that looks to increase contrast sensitivity includes color filters that can be worn over prescription lenses, aiding the visually impaired person by increasing visual acuity in low-light situations. All these existing solutions help the visually impaired function in dark, low-contrast settings, but more can be done to increase their abilities to navigate these spaces. For example, in addition to maximizing the minimal sight they do have, other senses can be heightened as well in order to decrease their difficulties functioning in low-contrast settings.”
After we research about the community we articulated the importance of creating a product to support them:
“Coming up with solutions to low contrast sensitivity could result in both ethical and economic improvements. It would greatly improve quality of life as well as productivity of persons affected. Having low contrast sensitivity can result in a loss of spatial awareness and mobility as well as an increase in the risk of accidents. Some daily activities that are also more difficult with this condition are walking down steps, recognizing faces, reading instructions. Issues such as these can lower job prospects, especially in manual labor jobs due to increased difficulty of completing tasks.”
2. User research
For our research, we conducted in-depth interviews over the phone with our users. These interviews were recorded so that we could meticulously analyze them later and draw conclusions. We chose our research method to be an interview because, although time-consuming, interviews are far more personal than other forms of research such as surveys. They helped us gain a lot of insights into our user’s thoughts and feelings.
We choose two people with both personal and professional experience regarding reduced eyesight. We first interviewed Erich Manser on October 24, 2019. He has retinitis pigmentosa and works as an accessibility specialist at IBM and has completed a UX design curriculum as part of his current role. We also interviewed Darryl Adams on October 27, 2019, who works with Intel Assistive Technology Programs and has retinitis pigmentosa. Both interviewees were able to give insight into the hindrances of progressive vision loss as well as the strengths and drawbacks of current assistive technologies. They both came from an athletic background and were able to give us a unique insight into sports with impaired vision as well.
The people we interviewed had much to contribute to our user research process. They mentioned how their struggles with retinitis pigmentosa (reduced peripheral vision and little to no night vision) have affected both their personal and professional lives in a multitude of ways, the most significant of which include driving a car, competing for jobs, enjoying physical activity, and using a computer. Any way that makes the completion of these simple, everyday activities more seamless for those who are visually impaired would be beneficial to their situation. As we discovered during the interviews, there are already many forms of technology that assist the visually impaired in these ways. A few examples of these technologies include screen readers, the ability to switch a phone or computer display to “dark mode,” and an organization called “United in Stride” that helps connect blind runners with sighted guides in their area.
While these solutions have been of significant value to the visually impaired community, much can be done to improve upon these systems further, and in turn, increase accessibility for the visually impaired in regards to independently accomplishing everyday activities. Although technologies such as screen readers do assist in allowing the user to interpret the information being provided to them, the inefficiencies of this process beg the question of why people who are visually impaired even need screens in the first place. Solutions like these neglect to consider the root of these kinds of problems. Rather than providing the visually impaired community with a resource that helps them access information indirectly, the goal should be to develop a technology source that gives the visually impaired user an equivalent experience to someone who is not visually impaired.
Talking with our two interviewees Erich Manser and Darryl Adams helped us understand the problems and solutions surrounding visual impairment better. They were able to provide us with both specific and general guidelines for aspects that should be included in our final product as well as help us gain a better understanding of existing technologies.
3. Design Draft
The Problem: People with degenerative eye conditions have a hard time getting accustomed to and transitioning in and out of each stage of deteriorating vision. Some also find it difficult to make use of the common resources and technologies available to support them.
The Solution: Using Oculus VR, our game will help familiarize people who are diagnosed with a degenerative eye condition with common technologies available to them for support at each stage of their vision loss to facilitate a smooth transition from one stage to another.
Goals: Through this project, we hope to provide the necessary information for
Future planning
Resource options
Empathetic understanding
For those with vision loss in a fun and interactive way
Wireframes:
Click through the wireframe gallery below
4. Personas | Usage scenerios
Next we created personas to have representative audience information to refer to as we are creating our product. We created 2 personas that have contrasting demographics, opinions, and experiences to make sure we were creating for all people.
Joe Keenan is a music teacher and athlete with retinitis pigmentosa, a degenerative eye disease. He currently has 10% of his remaining vision. Joe loves to stay active and wants physical activity to remain a significant part of his life, despite the risk of complete vision loss. He understands the chances that he will lose more vision as he gets older are quite high, and wants to be proactive in this transition process to be able to maintain his active lifestyle.
He decides to utilize virtual reality technology to take complete advantage of the sight he has left to reduce the inefficiencies that go hand-in-hand with slowly deteriorating vision later in life. He puts on the VR headset and selects the mini game relating to learning how to become comfortable running with a guide. Playing this minigame allows him to get accustomed to the auditory cues a guide may use during a race, such as signifying when to make a turn or if there is an impending obstacle on the course. Joe plays around with the running minigame for a while with the primary goal of mastering timing of the guide’s auditory cues and his responses. Once Joe gets the hang of this, he decreases the level of peripheral vision and moves on to the cane-practice minigame, as he knows he will most likely need a cane as his vision regresses. The practice cane simulates obstacles such as walls and stop lights to cross the street. The more often Joe practices with these decreased-vision simulations, the more comfortable and confident he begins to feel about the autonomy and ability he will have as his life progresses.
Ally Wilde is a high school student who was recently diagnosed with retinitis pigmentosa ,a degenerative eye condition that significantly affects her peripheral vision. She currently has 90% of her vision but has been told that she will lose her vision completely by the time she is 50. She is nervous about how gradually losing her eyesight could affect things that she does everyday such as browsing the internet or walking around. She does not know how to adequately prepare for the transition between technologies and treatments.
She decides to try out this new VR game called Test the Tech. Starting at level 1 of the game she learns how to use magnification technology that she finds surprisingly useful for her current level of vision. She had not realized how much this tool eased the strain on her eyes and immediately starts using magnification in her day to day activities. While she does not yet need a screen reader in her daily life, she decides to continue to level 2 of the game and learn what it is like to use one. After being guided by the game and practicing using a screen reader, she has a good grasp on how to read with little to no vision. She feels a little less scared now that she knows what to expect and knows that she will have the capability to access information even when her vision starts to deteriorate. Additionally, when she does make the transition to a screen reader later in life, she will be able to make the transition more easily and will also be able to better recognize when transitioning might be a good idea. She decides to also try out level 3 and 4. In these levels, she is able to explore how she will be able to navigate when walking using a support cane and running using a guide. As a very active person, she is relieved that getting out and moving around seems still viable with deteriorating vision. With the game now completed Ally feels more confident about her future and her ability to remain independent and keep doing the things she does today. She feels that she will be able to recognize when she needs to start using the resources (screen readers, cane, etc.) and will have an easier time making the transition.
5. Prototyping
I used flexible and creative thinking to create an interactive and informative prototype while understanding our weaknesses and utilizing our strengths. While many of my teammates and I have coding experience, we did not have knowledge on VR game creation, our strengths relied mostly on design and so we came up with creating a gameplay video to give an example of how our VR game would work.
To do this we filmed first person videos of us using the technologies included in our project to simulate the first person game play. To make this simulation even more realistic we filmed someone using an oculus to demonstrate how the controls and movements were used to execute game tasks.
I used video software to cut the video, add animations, add music, and overlay the videos to create our final project.
Reflection
Through this school project I was able to learn and practice all steps in the product design process. This experience helped me to inform my decision to pursue a career in the tech development field.