Garreth W. Tigwell

Recent trends in mixed reality (MR) exergames offer new opportunities for home-based, visually driven physical activity, but require accessible designs. For example, many conventional fitness systems often depend on spoken instruction and audio cues, limiting accessibility for Deaf and Hard of Hearing (DHH) people. Accessibility and user experience for DHH users are often treated as static, assessed at a single point in time. This framing overlooks how accessibility features may shape their experience, effort, and motivation differently as familiarity develops. Our research, therefore, investigates how DHH users’ motivation and engagement evolve in MR exergames across multiple sessions and how accessibility needs shift with familiarity. We conducted a three-phase exploratory study comprising a 10-day in-home user study utilizing ARWell PRO , design workshops, and feedback on visual mockup sessions. Our findings show that early-use features (e.g., captions and detailed visual guidance) can become effortful over time due to visual load, while efficiency-oriented features may inadequately support newcomers. Repeated engagement revealed trade-offs between guidance, autonomy, and cognitive effort, positioning accessibility as an evolving rather than static property. We further propose design directions and open research questions around adaptive instruction, modality choice, visual expressiveness, customization effort, and clarity versus discovery.

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990 has required retailers to ensure the accessibility of their stores to all consumers. However, consumer-facing in-store technology has rapidly grown and has not always been developed to be accessible to blind and low-vision (BLV) people. We surveyed 86 BLV respondents to understand current concerns with in-store technology and found self-checkouts (SCOs) were frequently used but also presented accessibility barriers. Next, we conducted a set of 10 contextual inquiries with BLV participants using SCOs. We found current SCOs negatively affected independence, self-efficacy, and equality for our BLV users. In addition to our findings, we present a design for an accessible SCO addressing the concerns of BLV while keeping retail corporations’ needs in mind.

Interest in learning American Sign Language (ASL) is growing across higher education institutions in North America, as reflected in rising enrollments. Yet this growth is constrained by limited program availability and few opportunities to practice outside the classroom. AI-based technologies show promise for supporting ASL learning, but educators – who bring essential pedagogical, linguistic, and cultural expertise – have been largely absent from conversations on the design of these tools, with prior work focusing primarily on learners. To address this, we conducted formative interviews with eleven Deaf and one hearing ASL instructor, followed by two focus groups with six Deaf educators, to examine how AI tools could support ASL education. Findings revealed priorities for technology design and considerations for integration into existing pedagogical practices, with attention to curricular, linguistic, and access factors. We offer insights for designing and researching technologies aimed at (1) providing adaptive, structured feedback on signing performance and (2) supporting immersive conversational practice with virtual signing partners.

Shared Augmented Reality (Shared AR) is an emerging technology that enables multiple users to interact synchronously within a collocated AR environment. Yet, there is limited research on the group interactions and dynamics in Shared AR, particularly in the context of gaming. To address this gap, we investigate Shared AR group interactions using a phone-based Shared AR mobile game called Urban Legends . Through in situ observations, focus groups, and one-on-one interviews with 22 participants, we examine how users collaborate and communicate within the game. Our findings reveal that while verbal communication predominates, non-verbal cues are often overlooked by collocated participants, and users initially struggle to recognize the expansive virtual space and the need for physical movement. Over time, users adapt to the hybrid environment, demonstrating increasing spatial awareness and more dynamic collaboration. Based on these insights, we present a suite of design recommendations for enhancing spatial awareness, supporting multi-modal communication, and fostering engaging group dynamics in future Shared AR applications.