Summary The environment in which we live, play and travel is primarily built by and for people with sight. Navigating the sighted world with blindness can be exhausting, as it involves disorientation, social isolation, increased risk, frustration and inefficiency. Accessing timely information about the environment is necessary to navigate an efficient path of travel and reduce the effort involved in living with blindness.
Numerous assistive technologies have been developed to improve access to information, and quality of life for people with blindness, however persistent technology limitations include affordability, unreliable internet connection, lag and limited battery life. Existing technologies can offer scene description or text-to-voice quite effectively when the user is standing still, but not quickly enough to gain benefit when on the move. Timely information is crucial at road crossings, where poor decisions can result in injury. Information lag or deficit also compounds travel fatigue due to time and energy wasted in searching, uncertainty and frustration.
Blind users are often brought in to test new technologies or devices in controlled, clinical conditions, when it is too late to influence design. There is little evidence of testing these technologies in lived environments to understand the functional benefits for the blind population, partly because there is a dearth of available methods and measures to embrace the complexity of functional research.
This study will test the safety, efficacy and usability of the ARIA Device in 12 varied research tasks undertaken by blind participants in clinical, social and outdoor lived environments, comparing ARIA performance with each participant's ordinary (non-ARIA) methods of undertaking the same tasks. The study uses an embedded mixed methods design with a qualitative priority, generating rich, precise data about what matters to participants and what they can do in diverse situations.
Individuals over the age of 18
Working English proficiency
No light perception, or light perception only (VROOM score <10/50).
Ambulant, with sufficient stamina to stand/walk for at least 30 minutes between breaks during a 3-4 hour research session.
Under 18 years, or adults unable to give informed consent (e.g., under guardianship).
Vision greater than light perception only (VROOM >10/50).
Physical limitations that compromise stamina needed to complete a four-hour research session.
Hearing aids; severe-profound hearing loss determined as insufficient hearing for unaided conversation
Crossover
ARIA Glasses ( Augmented Reality in Audio )
DeviceARIA stands for Augmented Reality in Audio. The ARIA Device consists of Augmented Reality glasses connected by cord to a dedicated mobile phone that has the ARIA app installed. The glasses include cameras, speakers and an inertial measurement unit. The phone app uses artificial intelligence to convert camera vision from the glasses into a soundscape that includes words and unique sounds identifying specific objects nearby, and an audio rendering of depth that estimates the user's distance from solid matter. This soundscape is delivered to the user via an amplifier that enables volume control and switch-off. The soundscape is designed to augment rather than replace natural hearing, increasing the user's perceptual access to details in the nearby environment.
ARIA Device Safety
Absence of device-related adverse events (AEs) including safe temperature (no burns), safe skin contact (no irritation), safe pressure (no hot spots, bruising), and safe sound levels (no ringing in the ears). AE summaries will be restricted to treatment-emergent AEs (TEAEs) only, defined as AEs which commence, or worsen in severity, on or after the first use of the ARIA Device. AEs will be assessed according to their adverse event-device relationship (not related, unlikely, possible, probable, definitely related) and their severity (mild, moderate, severe).
Secondary outcomes include efficacy endpoints, usability endpoints and exploratory endpoints.
Completion of 12 research tasks, with and without the ARIA Device, to assess efficacy of the ARIA Device.
Click on the lead sponsor to view all of their trials.
ARIA Research Pty Ltd
Lead sponsor
University of Sydney
Collaborator
