AI Accessibility
The AI-Accessibility project brings together faculty and student researchers from architecture, computer science, human sciences, and marketing, to design and test new building technologies which aim to maximize the functionality of artificially intelligent navigation aids for individuals with disability. In the spirit of university service (Ut Prosim) and universal design, the project team will work closely with stakeholders within and beyond the Virginia Tech community to explore the co-design of software and built space, deploying the latest advances in machine learning and material fabrication in high-impact recreational, residential, and institutional settings.
Midterm report
Activities supported to date:
- Deployment and testing of building elements at the Burkeville Lodge for the Blind (F24): Virginia Tech students of Architecture worked with leading members of the Burkeville Lodge for the Blind in Burkeville, VA, to improve the safety, accessibility, and sensory engagement of a newly-designed memory garden space. In addition to a canopy, trellis walls, and planter boxes to better-enclose the space, students created tactile surfacing and 3D-printed QR codes to facilitate the AI-Accessibility research team’s mobile app with conveying directional instructions and information about the Lodge.
- Participation in the National Federation of the Blind’s VA Convention (11.2.2024): Virginia Tech students from Architecture, Design, and Marketing, led multi-sensory design workshops at the National Federation of the Blind's 2024 State Convention in Portsmouth, VA on Saturday, Nov. 2nd. The team organized model-making workshops for vision-impaired children, teens, and adults. Older participants were challenged to create a space between two portals, which facilitated navigation and provided a comfortable place to sit. Participants developed their design ideas with AI, soliciting suggestions for interior layouts and materials.
- AI-Accessibility Workshop (F24): The AI-Accessibility Workshop supported students, working in small teams, to utilize AI tools to reimagine spatial experiences which present challenges of comprehension, occupation, navigation, et al. to individuals with vision-impairment. Students worked collaboratively to develop proposals for spaces / spatial components which resolve these challenges and elaborate on how these proposals could be included in the Cube exhibition which will take place in the spring. ICAT funds were used to support the prototyping and testing of building elements during the workshop.
- Development and testing of the SmartGuide mobile app (11.29.2024): Students and faculty from the School of Architecture and Department of Computer Engineering tested the usability of the team’s AI-enhanced mobile application with two vision-impaired participants. ICAT funds were used to support student researchers, purchase materials necessary for setting up a testing course, and provide food for the research team and participants on the day of testing.
Activities planned:
- Cube exhibition (4.9.2025): Remaining ICAT funds will primarily be used to support the construction of an exhibition in the Cube scheduled for April 9th, 2025. Exhibit pieces will be constructed at AAD’s Research and Demonstration Facility (RDF) by a group of approximately 25 students who have enrolled in the forthcoming spring semester’s Blind Design Workshop. This group will be led by students who participated in / developed their proposals during the AI-Accessibility Workshop in the fall. The team met with Tanner Upthegrove and Gustavo Araoz this fall and will continue working with them in the spring. The exhibition will overlap and support the activities of the 2025 Blind Design Workshop, during which 12-15 aspiring young designers with vision-impairment will attend a 5-day immersive learning program at the Virginia Tech School of Architecture.
- Accessible tourism presentation (Winter 2025): The team has established a working collaboration with Professor Kristin Lamoureux, Graduate Director of Virginia Tech’s Hospitality and Tourism program, with several decades of experience in sustainable and accessible tourism. She has arranged a “pitch” meeting to discuss potential applications of our developing software and building technologies with Access Alexandria (one of the state’s largest Destination Management Organizations) in a museum and/or outdoor public space.
- The research team is awaiting a response from / has applied to participate in three events to showcase, expand the impact of, and collect feedback about its work. These include:
- An exhibition booth at the 2025 Global Disability Summit in Berlin (April 2nd-3rd, 2025); the team would exhibit innovations of AI, designed in collaboration with state and national Organizations of Persons with Disabilities (OPDs), to support the inclusion of individuals with vision-impairment in the built environment.
- Professional Development (PD) session at the Kennedy Center’s Office of Accessibility 2025 LEAD Conference (August 18th-22nd) in Cleveland, Ohio, to provide leading members of institutional spaces (e.g. museums, art galleries, parks, zoos, etc.) with a hands-on demonstration of how applied design thinking (using drawing, model-making, and AI) can facilitate dialogue with disabled communities.
- AI-Design workshop at the National Federation of the Blind’s 2025 National Convention (July 8th-13th) in New Orleans, Louisiana (an extension of the initiative which was piloted in Portsmouth, VA).