After reading the chapter from Graham Pullin’s book Design Meets Disability and thinking about my personal experiences related to this topic, I decided work on an unconventional model of eyeglasses. My final project will be a synthesis on an interactive artwork and an assistive device, inviting audience to think about the stigma around certain types of products for disabled people.
Drawing inspiration from Meta Ray Ban smart glasses, I want to combine audio with visuals by adding small speakers to the ends of the temples, so that the user can hear the sound clearly only when they wear the product. In terms of visuals, I want to use camera mode in p5.js to detect the eye area of the user, with the help of glasses designed in a specific way to facilitate this. I will be modelling the glasses myself using Rhino and then printing them on 3D printer in order to create a precise structure that would fit desired electronic components. The speakers will be connected to Arduino, which in its turn will be connected to p5.js sketch using serial communication. Depending on the gazing sequences of the user, the visuals on the screen will be changing, depicting eyes of changing sizes. For user’s eye-tracking WebGazer.js library will be used.
From my individual experience and observations, one of the key reasons why people feel awkward about wearing glasses is because of the way they distort the size of their eyes depending on the prescription, hence altering the familiar look of the face. Such minor things are often invisible to strangers, but people wearing glasses can become extremely conscious about this. By providing an exaggerated illustration of such distortion, I wish to draw attention to the way people with disabilities perceive themselves.