Current Projects

Get customizable pedestrian navigation experience on the AccessMap Mobile App AccessMap provides customized accessible sidewalk and footpath routing directions based on your personal mobility profile. This can benefit anyone, but is particularly designed to address the informational needs of people with mobility limitations. Do you want to participate in co-design for the next release? Click…

OpenSidewalks seeks to make pedestrian ways, like sidewalks, first class members of an open, routable transportation network from which we can ask a variety of important questions. This means collecting a connected network of path types with detailed attributes like width, surface composition, steepness, and shared traffic.

Play is for everyone! The Universal Playgroup creates opportunities for team play and access to open-source inclusive design for all. The Universal Playgroup started as a re-imagining of a work and play space that is intended for all abilities. An all-abilities space was crucial because the physical play space directly impacts how quickly and efficiently…

iDesign Lab engages a community of practice in open source technology design, build, and use. We engage communities of practice in collaborative design aiming to increase access to everyday technologies through community ideation and development of ability-focused novel interfaces, the addition of sensors and input devices to existing technologies, and large civic engagement projects. Co-designing…

Apple products use the same gesture vocabulary for input. Certainly, unifying gestures across devices helps their adoption. However, in the context of a population with hugely variable abilities, achieving broad or general impact requires the adaptation or customization of input gestures for each individual. As a first step, we aim to make touchscreens truly accessible…

The TACcess Kit is designed as an easy-to-use starter kit for a wide range of accessibility projects focusing on the home as a sandbox for interactive switch-accessible play. Kit recipients can use the TACcess Kit to turn many battery-operated toys into switch-adapted toys. They can learn how to create customized interactive surfaces by turning almost…

Augmentative communication devices are traditionally speech generating devices through which the actor uses input devices to construct speech. These devices are typically devoid of any context related to a user’s position, geographical location, scene understanding, etc. With the recent additions of cameras, global positioning sensors and fast computing power in mobile devices, we can make…

Tactile MapTile employs a unique tactile based representation of various features in a map to enhance the spatial understanding for people with broad visual capacities. Each feature is re//presented by a different texture and pattern tactile design. Users can generate and customize a 3D map model based on their choice of location, and which features…

The Autonomous Wheelchair project focuses on the addition of environmental sensors and real-time, on-board machine intelligence to enhance powered mobility options that are already on the market. We are designing a smart and connected power wheelchair add-on kit that would support both autonomous personal mobility as well as shared control (aka shared autonomy) for people…

FleXR aims to allow anyone with their own custom input systems to access Extended Reality(XR) applications without requiring physical movement of head-mounted displays or hand controllers that are standard today. FleXR’s prototype demonstrates the feasibility of standardizing input systems for XR in the form of a plugin for the WebXR framework A-Frame that easy to…