(In)visible
Concept / interaction design
LUCA school of arts - Research Project
"A concept created to help the blind and visually impaired to be more independent when it comes to taking the train."
This concept was created as part of the research project and the TraPist ('Train Passenger Interfaces for Smart Travel’) project. Our team focused on the blind and visually impaired. The concept exists out of two parts: An application and an interactive bracelet.
The App
The application acts as a navigation application. Giving the user the ability to select their train route and add certain stops in each of the train stations. While prototyping this application the use of voice-over technology was very important. Through research and interviews we discovered this is the most convenient way for blind and visually impaired people to use a smartphone. The app would then communicate with the interactive bracelet to give feedback to the user.
The bracelet
The bracelet has 4 vibrating disk motors build in. One a the bottom, one on top and one on each of the sides. Together with the app and using certain vibrations or patterns the bracelet helps a blind or visually impaired person to navigate the train stations, warn them for obstacles like escalators, stairs, etc and give them a sense of where they are on their journey itself.
The reason we choose to work with a bracelet is because it is very subtle, so it doesn't stigmatise the user. And by using vibrations we are not taking away any of their hearing since this sense is very important for users since the often rely on their hearing to navigate as well.
Research & development
For this project we not only used desk research, but we were in close contact with some blind and visually impaired people. With whom we worked with and received some very valuable feedback from during our research, prototyping and testing. More information (in dutch) can be found here.
Teammates: Furkan Dönmez (CMDi), Emma Ribbens (PRODUCT DESIGN), Laura Schreurs (ANIMATION), Jasper Verbeeck (CMDi), Pieterjan Luyten (PHOTOGRAPHY) en Mats Wouters (CMDg).
