Hi Everyone.

My name is Paul Ruvolo and I am an associate professor of computer science at Olin College of Engineering (located in Massachusetts, USA). My group has been developing smartphone technology for orientation and mobility for the last 6 or so years. The app that we created which is most widely known in the community is called Clew ($1). Clew is an app that allows users to record routes and then load them later for automatic navigation through haptic, speech, and auditory feedback ($1). The goal of the app is to allow people who are blind or visually impaired to more confidently navigate unfamiliar routes and to help folks learn new routes more easily.

This summer we are hard at work on not only improving Clew but also developing other apps related to orientation and mobility. We are looking to engage with co-designers for a 5-week program to collaboratively test, refine, and create O&M technology for people who are blind or low vision.

You can participate in the program remotely, and the co-design program will require about one hour of work per week. The remainder of the program includes the opportunity to attend online workshops designed to introduce skills related to digital accessibility and product development (we have some great speakers lined up for these workshops).

We hope that folks will find the workshops and opportunities to connect with the speakers and the research team to be valuable. We can also offer each participant a $100 honorarium for their participation in the 5-week program.

If you are interested in participating, here is a link to $1 as well as $1. We're hoping to get this train rolling very shortly, so please fill out the application if this is of interest to you.

Thanks everyone for your time, and please don't hesitate to reach out to me with questions (e.g., by e-mailing me at $1) or by replying to this thread.

Paul Ruvolo

Olin College of Engineering

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