Accessible Experiences in Immersive Digital Technology

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Virtual reality provides opportunities to enable people with disabilities into a broad range of experiences that were previously unavailable. Whether it is participation in events through virtual stadia, exploring historical buildings that are inaccessible in the physical world, or simply playing board games in a virtual room with friends who are far from home, this technology can open a world of possibilities. Barriers related to the mismatch between users' needs and preferences and the design of the VR technology could result in people with disabilities being excluded from key aspects of work, education, and leisure. However, with accessibility becoming a major issue in areas of technology innovation, and with VR still incubating as a platform for experiences, there is an opportunity to make it as inclusive as possible before it reaches maturity in the marketplace. Vision The 5-year goal of my research program is to create the design and evaluation methodologies needed to effect change in the VR marketplace so that all users can find a virtual reality environment that delivers the experiences they want to have . Challenges The challenges of reaching this goal are immense. We currently lack knowledge of what the key barriers are that keep people with disabilities from participating in virtual reality, and collecting this information from a broad range of people with disabilities is difficult given the distributed nature of the user community. This prevents us from being able to identify where there are gaps in accessible design and propose new solutions to barriers. Finally, we have no mechanisms of comparing or contrasting the experiences of people with disabilities to know if we have succeeded in working together to enable users into these virtual spaces. Objectives (1) collect data about the most prominent barriers to VR shared across the diverse groups of users with disabilities (2) collaborate with technology providers to identify existing solutions, propose new solutions, and rigorously evaluate how well those solutions meet the needs of people with disabilities (3) design and validate new measures that capture the experiences of people with disabilities with technology. Impact When successful, a collection of design portfolios demonstrating the barriers and their solutions will be available to the global design community for VR, giving options for designs that will increase inclusion in the VR space. Through cooperation with the AbleGamers Charity the results of this research will be communicated to game developers through training, social media and free online resources. Further, for the first time, we will have the ability to quantitatively measure the experience of people with disabilities with technology.  This will represent a step-change in the research space and greatly enhance the already strong reputation of Canada as a forward-thinking in accessibility.