ARIA

Accessibility Risk Immersion & Awareness (ARIA) objective is to create a digital twin of an office environment from the ground up that is purposefully designed to allow able-bodied humans to notice environment changes that may hinder someone with a disability. 

Outcomes and Additional Information

• The project was sponsored by Actively Accessible Facilities Assessment (AAFA), an AFRL Air Warfare Directorate effort focused on how facility conditions influence accessibility, performance, productivity, and experience. AAFA is backed by the Architectural Barriers Act (ABA) & Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

• The project is designed to give users a new perspective of navigating and interacting with the environment and increase awareness to drive better designs and plans to accommodate people with disabilities. 

• The application can be accessed on a desktop computer and VR. It includes a hallway, workspaces (office, cubicle, conference room), and restroom. The virtual environment also includes randomly-spawning lights and/or physical obstructions to purposefully hinder certain tasks and/or trigger/stimulate specific disabilities.

• The player experiences fatigue through in-game energy loss as well as distracting and obstructive facility conditions (including irritating audio, heavy doors, and inaccessible pathways). The character settings include mobility, visual, auditory, and psychological disabilities. Throughout the training, the player must complete tasks, such as cleaning a spill, gathering materials, and working with wiring. 

• Future work will include additional tasks as well as grading, non-playable characters, an expanded environment, additional disability options, and a cane with haptic feedback for visual impairments.