Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center

This is an installation of the CamIO project that adds interactivity to a tactile map of the Google Accessibility Discovery Center in Milan, Italy.

Created by William Loughborough in 1979, Talking Lights was a system of infrared transmitters and receivers allowing blind and visually impaired travelers to quickly and easily “read signs” at a distance.

COVID-19 pandemic data for screen reader users are available at covid.ski.org

tScratch: Tangible Programming Environment Targeted for Students who are Blind or Visually Impaired

Introductory programming languages are overwhelmingly designed with sighted students in mind. Our goal is to expand and enhance scratch (https://scratch.mit.edu/ ), a block-based visual programming language and online community targeted primarily at children with Universal Design for Learning (UDL) concepts. The addition of tactile programming tiles, a specialized haptic coding grid, and an auditory interface will provide beginning programming instruction for students either as individual…

The Smith-Kettlewell Haptics Symposium was held on March 29, 2018 to honor and remember Dr. Val Morash and her research.

This project explores regressions (movements to re-read text) in braille reading. The image on the right plots the braille reading finger movements in blue and regressions in black.

This project seeks to develop a computer vision-based system that allows a visually impaired traveler to find and read informational signs, such as signs labeling office doors, streets, restrooms and Exit signs.

Link open source code

Tactile graphics use raised lines, textures, and elevations to provide individuals with visual impairments access to graphical materials through touch. Tactile graphics are particularly important for students in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields, where educational content is often conveyed using diagrams and charts. However, providing a student who has a visual impairment with a tactile graphic does not automatically provide the student access to the graphic’s educational content. Instead, the student may struggle to decipher subtle differences between textures or…

Recent workshop:

Workshop on Environmental Sensing Technologies for Visual Impairment (ESTVI ’13 in San Francisco)

ESTVI ’13 focused on emerging technologies capable of sensing environmental features for applications in access technologies for persons with visual impairment, including low vision and blindness. The development of environmental sensing technologies (ESTs) and the study of their potential to support the activities of daily living for visually impaired persons is progressing at a rapid pace, and engages many disparate research fields, including computer vision, wearable sensors…

The purpose of this research study is to test subjects who have various hearing and vision problems on their lipreading, visual and auditory skills in order to understand the relationships between lipreading and visual impairment. We then can explore training strategies to improve auditory and visual communication.

[Under construction]

When blind persons read braille, a system of raised dots for tactile reading and writing, how is the information processed? How do a few indentations on the fingerpads translate to linguistic information, and how does the text, in turn, influence the motions of the hands reading it? Our work on braille addresses these processes on several levels.

This project explores the impact of presentation mode (braille vs. audio) and using different assistive technology (i.e., refreshable braille displays and screen reader) on reading comprehension ability. The findings will have direct implications for how to present educational material to enhance comprehension among fluent braille readers.

The Smith-Kettlewell Technical File, edited by William Gerrey (WA6NPC), was a publication by and for blind and visually-impaired electronics professionals and enthusiasts. It was published by the Smith-Kettlewell Eye Research Institute from Fall 1980, through Spring 1998 and was at various times available in Braille, large print, audio cassette, and 5-1/4″ floppy diskette.

Although The Smith-Kettlewell Technical File is no longer in active publication, we offer this online archive as a resource of both current and historical value.

While many of the articles about devices and techniques remain…

The Blind Arduino Project grew out of a community effort led by Dr. Miele in late 2015 to better understand barriers faced by blind people wanting to participate in the vibrant global culture of DIY hardware prototyping.

Arduino is an inexpensive, open-source electronics platform used by everyone from young hobbyists to high-tech developers to build computerized devices integrating sensors, motors, displays, wireless communications, and a host of other tools. Arduino is used in schools to teach children basic principles of design and computer science, in industry to quickly and inexpensively…

Most patients are unaware of their visual field defects and scotomata, be it from AMD, from glaucoma, from RP, or from other causes. Dr. Colenbrander developed an improved functional scoring system for visual fields, as part of the Functional Vision Score system (see Guidelines)

Difficulty reading is the most common complaint of low vision patients. It is the Activity of Daily Living that is most closely related to visual acuity, but involves many additional factors beyond.

Print SIZE provides an assessment (visual acuity) of “How the EYE functions”.

Reading SPEED provides a convenient assessment of “How the PERSON functions.”

PDF Reading acuity (2005)

The IVA system (see below) contains a module to facilitate reading speed measurements.

For eye doctors measuring contrast sensitivity loss during routine eye exams is not a priority, since contrast losses are not disease specific and do not guide treatment decisions.
For the patient, on the other hand, knowledge about contrast losses, of which they are usually not consciously aware, is very important, since it may affect the performance of Activities of Daily Living and affect safety in mobility tasks.

When visual parameters are measured, the measurements are usually limited to determining peak contrast sensitivity and threshold visual acuity as separate, seamingly independent…

Categorization of visual functioning requires appropriate measurement methods. Dr. Colenbrander has discussed the principles of functional assessment in several book chapters.

Measuring Vision and Vision Loss, Vol. 5, chapter 51, in Duane’s Clinical Ophthalmology, (2001, updated and expanded for 2010 edition). Comprehensive overview, 96 pages, 10 MB. PDF

Low Vision Rehabilitation, Special issue of: Ophthalmology Clinics of North America, Colenbrander, Fletcher eds., 7, 2, 1994.

The Visual System. Chapter 12 in Master the AMA Guides (L. Cocchiarella, S.J…