News

SKERI Welcomes Claire Lilienthal Alternative School Students

On April 13th, 7th grade students from Claire Lilienthal Alternative School visited the Smith-Kettlewell Eye Research Institute (SKERI) in San Francisco. Audrey Wong-Kee-You, Research Coordinator at SKERI, welcomed the students and teachers and introduced them to the institute’s mission of creating a unique environment for the study of vision science and the development of assistive technology to support people who are blind and visually impaired.

University of Michigan Students Visit SKERI

SKERI hosted a group of trainees from the University of Michigan Kinesiology program. The visit was organized by Dr. Haylie Miller, an Assistant Professor in the Department of Kinesiology at the University of Michigan, and funded by a generous donation by a UM Kinesiology alum.

SKERI Receives Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center (RERC) grant on Blindness and Low Vision

Smith-Kettlewell is proud to announce the newly awarded Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center (RERC) grant on Blindness and Low Vision. This is a five-year grant from the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research, establishing Smith-Kettlewell as a center promoting the independence and well-being of people with visual impairments through research and development to improve the understanding of, and provide solutions for, challenges facing the blind and low-vision community.

Rehabilitation Engineering Research Centers (RERC) Program: RERC on Blindness and Low Vision

Objectives: We will focus on three main areas of need. 1) Access to Education and Informtion. Objectives are to develop and evaluate new applictions of audio-tactile maps and graphics; leverage AI for a human-in-the-loop approach to video description; and develop and conduct a Summer Institute program to provide tools for blind and visually impaired students to enter STEM courses and careers. 2) Navigation and Spatial Interactions.