Accessibility resources

[dontcallmedom]

I've been made aware of at least two resources that can be useful for thinking of A11Y and VR:

• https://www.w3.org/WAI/APA/task-forces/research-questions/wiki/Accessibility_of_Virtual_Reality developed by the WAI APA Research task force
• https://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/IanHamilton/20161031/284491/VR__accessibility.php (submitted to the workshop mailing list)

We should build on those for preparing the accessibility session at the workshop

[Utopiah]

Roland Dubois (@rdub80) does a lot of work building GraVR.io and did a recent presentation at NYVR on Approaches to Accessibility in WebVR. He also did a great A-Frame demo https://github.com/rdub80/gravr-a11y-demo that should become soon a component.

[dontcallmedom]

do you know if anyone could serve as a conduit to these findings? This sounds like a very interesting source of information

[Utopiah]

Roland is aware of this issue but if he can not attend we'll try to find a conduit.

[rdub80]

@dontcallmedom I submitted the application to attend, I would be happy to join the working group in Brussels, @Utopiah thanks for the intro

[dontcallmedom]

@rdub80 looking forward to meeting you there!

[delapuente]

Another interesting resource:
http://www.ablegamers.org/thoughts-on-accessibility-and-vr/

[rdub80]

Even though the ILMxLAB Survey is very much focussed around 6dof / room scale, it is an interesting read: https://goo.gl/3fDn3N

…

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[CarinC]

Hi all,

I was sadly unable to attend this event, or to post anything on time for it, but would like to share some info that might be useful.

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Projections might help users who can't wear VR headsets, e.g. by:

1. BroomX - 360/VR projector (interact with the projection via a mobile device): http://www.broomx.com/
2. SCALee - portable VR projector: https://www.fitness-gaming.com/news/home-fitness/scalee-vr-technology-lets-users-become-part-of-virtual-worlds.html
3. LUMOplay - affordable 2D projector (can it be linked/hacked to work with other content than their own?): https://www.lumoplay.com/ and https://www.fitness-gaming.com/news/home-fitness/lumo-play-turns-childrens-rooms-into-interactive-playgrounds.html
4. Domes with projectors inside, for events or permanent fixtures (to be hired/bought by companies rather than consumers), e.g. from Igloo: http://www.igloovision.com/ or Odome (also under water): https://www.odome.co.uk/

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Haptic feedback might help users navigate and find/manipulate assets in VR, e.g. provided by:

1. VR Touch - affordable small wireless finger add-on for haptic feedback with accurate dynamic pressure: https://www.gotouchvr.com/
2. HaptX Gloves - expensive, bulky & wired, but powerful haptic gloves: https://haptx.com/ and https://www.engadget.com/2017/11/20/haptx-gloves-vr/
   There are many other glove providers, ...
3. Ultrahaptics - panels that create interactive haptic objects in the air by ultrasound, but are still in early stages: https://www.ultrahaptics.com/

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Hand gestures might help users interact in a more natural way than with hand-held controllers (with learned interactions), e.g. through:

1. Leapmotion - small and cheap $80 gesture-recognition camera: https://www.leapmotion.com
2. Hi5 VR GLOVE - wireless consumer VR glove (only for HTC Vive & Noitom’s Project Alice - push them to expand this! :-) ): https://hi5vrglove.com/
3. HaptX Gloves - wired, bulky & expensive, but powerful haptic gloves (probably also only for certain platforms): https://haptx.com/ and https://www.engadget.com/2017/11/20/haptx-gloves-vr/

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Computer Vision & AI might help describe the views in VR environments (either in spoken text or subtitles), now or in the near future, as illustrated by e.g. this apps, and these 2 APIs:

1. Microsoft's free 'Seeing AI' app (still using an image, not video stream, at the moment)

• Info: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/seeing-ai/
• Video of demo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4krZgdX_WT8&feature=player_embedded

2. Microsoft's Computer Vision API (try the API on your own image!): https://azure.microsoft.com/en-gb/services/cognitive-services/computer-vision/
3. Google Video Intelligence API (ony gives words, not phrases, at the moment?): https://cloud.google.com/video-intelligence/

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The examples listed above are of course just that: a few easily found 'examples'. You can find many other examples for each of these topics, and one might fit some specific need just perfectly.

Please therefore share your own examples here too.

Many thanks,

CarinC