STEP Controller
Project Type
Industrial Design
Role
Industrial Designer, Mechanical engineer
Date
March - May 2023
"The last 100 steps are the hardest part of getting places."
The STEP System solves the last block problem by providing high precision navigation to blind and visually impaired users
Project Brief
Led by Professor Paul Ruvolo and Alessandra Ferzoco, this project envisioned a system where blind and visually impaired people can navigate the world through their phone.
As the team developed the Clew App, which is a pathfinding tool that uses the iPhone's LiDar and AR technology, they ran into a problem. Users were inconvenienced by having to hold up their phone all the time, especially since some users had canes or seeing-eye dogs.
Our team was tasked to design and develop a controller that remotely control the iPhone while it was mounted on the body by a strap so it can see the world.
Imagine this scenario:
Amy is a blind and visually impaired person who uses a cane. She knows she is close to her destination, but cant find the storefront. She tries to take out her phone, but her hands are full with her luggage.
"The last 100 steps are the hardest part of getting places."
Amy has a phone strapped to her chest,
and her camera sees the world. She uses her controller to remotely navigate her phone and opens an app that uses the phone camera’s lidar technology to guide you to your destination with audio cues.
The STEP System solves the last block problem by providing high precision navigation to blind and visually impaired users
Clew app
Our Professor, Paul Ruvolo, led the development of the Clew navigation app, and asked our team to build a way for people to access their phone while navigating, so they don't have to hold their phones out.
We partnered with Perkins School for the Blind to run user tests and codesigns.
The parts of the system
Controller
User employs controller and VoiceOver to access phone
Phone mount
Phone mount lets app use back camera and lidar
Clew app
Clew app uses GPS, AR and sensors for navigation
Feedback
Audio + haptic cues guide user to destination
Most controllers are book readers or game controllers. There is a phone controller on the market, but is operated with both hands.
Core needs
Single-handed
Operatable with one hand.
Intuitive
Simplicity is the most intuitive
and the easiest to learn.
Versatile
Fit into the user’s lives in
multiple ways.
Tactile
Feel satisfying and
interactive to the touch.
Process
Materiality Moodboard
Unique tactile experiences: Rotating dial, side buttons, directional buttons
Flexible clip to attach to clothes or fabric
Slots to wear as watch
