Virtual Reality for Visually Impaired People
▶Summary
The main objective of this project is to collect and exchange information concerning Virtual Reality (abbreviated: VR) and Augmented Reality (abbreviation: AR) in context of education and traini...
▶Objectives
The main objective of this project is to collect and exchange information concerning Virtual Reality (abbreviated: VR) and Augmented Reality (abbreviation: AR) in context of education and training of people with visual impairments. The increasing use of VR and AR systems in education and vocational trainining, will become an important factor in the process of digitisation. It is therefore essential, that this technology quickly finds its way into the education and vocational training of visually impaired people, to avoid any disadvantages for this group. Especially the integration into the labour market is difficult for visually impaired people. It is therefore imperative that this target group will be introduced to the new digital technology in order to be competitive on the labour market. However, in order to educate and train the target group adequately, the educational staff must be qualified accordingly. In the context of vocational training and education of people with visual impairments, VR and AR systems are not in the focus yet. The project aims to change this situation by exploring suggestions for the meaningful and effective use of these technologies in the education of visually impaired people.
▶Activities
Four activities were carried out during this project. Activity 1 During this phase, all project partners investigated VR-related products, research and projects in the partner countries that are related to the group of people with visual impairment. This activity was essential to prepare and realise the following three activities. An additional aim of this activity was also that all project partners were sensitised about this subject and get an impression of corresponding developments in the partner country. The results of the exploration about products and researches will be published on the project homepage. Activity 2 This included a two-day hybrid (online) conference with participation of all partners, as a main event. The purpose of this conference was the exchange of experience between the project partners on the practical and theoretical experience available so far regarding VR and related technologies. External experts presented project and products via online conference. External experts were also invited as speakers. Activity 3 and 4 These were also carried out as hybrid conferences with the subject 'VR/AR in vocational training' and 'VR/AR in ophthalmological field'. External experts presented their results online.
▶Impact
One of the aims of the project was to gain an understanding of where VR/AR can be usefully applied in the vocational and general education of visually impaired people. Existing systems and solutions were investigated in all four activities. At the end of the project, all partners evaluate possible implementation strategies of VR in the education of visually impaired people. The results of Activity 1 was a survey about available VR/AR products, application and researches concerning visually impaired people. All investigated results were published on the project homepage in various categories, The results werde described here in detail and provided with a link to the developers/ researchers. More than 18 results could be identified in the application of VR/AR for visually impairment. This review will continue after the end of the project.(https://www.vr4vip.net/docs/) Activity 2-4 were hybrid conferences focusing on the following topics 1. VR/AR for people with visual impairments 2. VR/AR in vocational education 3. VR/AR in ophthalmological application External experts were invited as speakers. The presentations were recorded with the permission of the speakers and made available for download on the project homepage with subtitles.