InsEYEght

About our project

Over the course of our 20-month project, we intended to make a contribution to improving the daily lives of blind and visually impaired people. Our main goal was set on the safety of this group in public spaces. To this end, the first challenge of our project was to gather the experiences and perspectives of blind people, so as not to ignore the real needs of those affected and to gain a deeper understanding of the challenges.  
With the support of our supervisor, Prof. Dr. Ing. Johannes Betz and our tutors, our ultimate goal was to research how technological advances, such as artificial intelligence, can make the daily challenges of visually impaired people easier. This led to the following research question:
“What are the most pressing problems and challenges that visually impaired and blind people face on a daily basis that can be addressed with tools assisted by artificial intelligence?”
 

Study Structure

Our project was structured into three main parts.

Information gathering
In the first stage, we established initial contacts with several self-help group organizations to obtain an initial understanding of the environment and circumstances in which people with visual impairments go about their daily lives. This contributed to the planning of the subsequent semi-structured interviews. 
A total of 30 interviews were conducted. These interviews were designed to collect qualitative data on specific needs and requirements as well as the current limitations of classical and Al-based tools.

Data analysis
Afterwards, we conducted a quantitative content analysis of the interviews to identify common issues, as well as requirements and potential desires for assistive tools.

Prototype Development
Finally, we began to develop a prototype. Our initial focus was on close-range tasks. One common and relevant issue that emerged from the analysis was the difficulty in recognizing bus numbers, on which we developed our prototype.

 

Study Structure

Our project was structured into three main parts.

Information gathering
In the first stage, we established initial contacts with several self-help group organizations to obtain an initial understanding of the environment and circumstances in which people with visual impairments go about their daily lives. This contributed to the planning of the subsequent semi-structured interviews. 
A total of 30 interviews were conducted. These interviews were designed to collect qualitative data on specific needs and requirements as well as the current limitations of classical and Al-based tools.

Data analysis
Afterwards, we conducted a quantitative content analysis of the interviews to identify common issues, as well as requirements and potential desires for assistive tools.

Prototype Development
Finally, we began to develop a prototype. Our initial focus was on close-range tasks. One common and relevant issue that emerged from the analysis was the difficulty in recognizing bus numbers, on which we developed our prototype.
 

Team

Tutors

• Monica Dechene
• Martin Zirngibl

Supervisors

• Prof. Dr.-Ing. Johannes Betz

Contact

Email: inseyeght(at)ja.tum.de