Prototyping a Spatial Skills AR Authoring Tool for Partially Sighted, Blind, and Sighted Individuals

Abstract

Spatial skills are critical for understanding the relations among objects and people, playing an important role in how we interact with the world. Spatial relationships are built through interactions with physical objects; however, in computational/online environments, these change to bi-dimensional media and computer-assisted design comprised of 3D representations viewable through a flat screen. Due to spatial immersion and interaction limitations, a traditional 2D and 3D approach presents challenges to partially sighted, blind, and sighted individuals. This paper presents the prototyping of a co-design Augmented Reality (AR) authoring tool by recruiting inclusive emerging affordances of consumer-level AR technologies within the context of current e-learning provisions in subject matters, including inclusive design, engineering design, game hardware design, and health sciences. This work has been inspired by the COVID-19 pandemic that has shown the need to level the field in inclusive design for teaching a subject typically oriented to the sighted. Our prototype allows users to create e-learning content for visualization, interaction, collaboration, and inclusive learning. Future work will investigate our tool's impact on skills development and content creation.