Michele McDonnall, Ph.D., CRC
Anne Steverson, MS
The National Research & Training Center on Blindness & Low Vision
In the past 20 years, there has been a plethora of new technology and dramatic advances in existing technology for people who are blind or have low vision. Innovative, novel assistive technology (AT) continue to be introduced every year, and additional novel AT is in development. Professionals from multiple, diverging backgrounds are working on developing these novel AT to benefit people who are blind or have low vision. For example, some novel AT include the number of head mounted video magnifiers now available, as well as the developing field of multi-line braille tablets, with the Canute by Bristol Braille Technology being the first of the latest efforts available on the market. Other novel AT include the numerous AT meant to help people with orientation, navigation, and/or wayfinding, such as the Mira backpack and a smart cane by HearSee Mobility.
Although many novel AT are introduced, few are widely adopted or regularly used. Given the abundance of novel AT but limited adoption, we wanted to know how people who are blind or have low vision learn about novel AT, what impacts their decision to try it, and [...]