Free exploration is an important aspect of many engaging virtual reality (VR) experiences, yet remains largely inaccessible to blind and low vision (BLV) users due to its reliance on visual feedback. Existing approaches support BLV navigation through prebuilt menus of environment and audio beacons, but offer limited support for free-form discovery. We present VisionPulse, an accessible VR system that enables BLV users to explore virtual environments through natural head and hand movements, combined with auditory, haptic, and text-to-speech feedback. VisionPulse introduces a discovery-driven approach that allows users to progressively uncover regions and objects, alongside navigation support through waypoint guidance and object localization via responsive audio and orientation-based haptics. A study with 12 BLV participants showed a strong preference for VisionPulse's discovery-based exploration and multimodal feedback, without negatively impacting task performance or perceived workload. Our findings underscore the importance of accessible, free-form VR experiences, and contribute insights for inclusive VR design.
Visual diagrams, figures, and tables are central to scientific papers, and convey information beyond what is captured in text. While blind or low-vision (BLV) scientists have traditionally relied on static alternative text to access figures in papers, the rise of artificial intel…
Augmented reality (AR) can enhance visual perception for people with low vision (PLV) by overlaying multimodal information. Selection-based augmentation further allows users to flexibly choose and augment relevant information while reducing distraction and visual clutter. However…
AI-powered assistive technologies have long supported blind and low vision (BLV) people in everyday tasks, but they are general-purpose and often fall short of meeting complex, individualized, in-situ accessibility needs. Though agentic programming tools, like GitHub Copilot, hav…
Bowed string instruments demand fine-grained bodily coordination that is typically taught through visual demonstration, creating persistent barriers for musicians with blindness and low-vision (BLV). To understand these challenges and explore new design opportunities, we conducte…
Combining refreshable tactile displays (RTDs) with conversational AI offers a promising approach to accessible data visualization for people who are blind or have low vision (BLV). However, it remains an open question how these modalities should be integrated to support accessibl…
Virtual reality (VR) systems can enable convenient hand-based interactions across diverse work scenarios. However, mid-air gestures lack tactile feedback and a physical reference surface to support the hand. This absence of haptic grounding can cause significant challenges in ach…