Making hybrid senses: assistive sensing technology for the visually impaired

Recent advances in AI and robotics have enabled new assistive technologies for the visually impaired. In this project, rather than ‘simulating sight’ with technology, our approach is instead to combine sensory inputs with new actions and abilities to create new ‘hybrid senses’. Our project combines computer vision, haptics, new interfaces, and robotics, to explore new ways of sensing and acting – creating what we call ‘hybrid senses’. Two experimental hybrid senses will be designed, built, and tested, with VIPs involved in both design and testing. These prototypes will enable understanding what senses can be constructed through new technologies but also how action and sensing can be connected in tight sensory loops with technology.