Keynote presentation at the 7th ICEVI European Conference on Psychology and Visual Impairment, which took place 1-2 November 2018 in Thessaloniki, Greece. The presentation introduces the 3-year H2020 project SUITCEYES, which is aimed at developing a garment that will appropriate smart textiles and IoT technologies in order to act as a communication interface for people with deafblindness.

1. Efstratios Kontopoulos
Information Technologies Institute, Centre for Research & Technology Hellas
Empowering People with
Deafblindness
The SUITCEYES H2020 Project
* Image: “Haptic conversation through Tactile Sign Language”, courtesy of LightHouse for the Blind and Visually Impaired, see http://lighthouse-sf.org

2. Presentation Outline
• Deafblindness Background
• SUITCEYES
– Overview
– The Idea
• Haptic Intelligent Communication Interface (HIPI)
• Latest Progress
• What’s Next?

3. Deafblindness
* Image used by permission from Mo Gård

4. Estimated 2.5 Million in Europe
* EDbN, "Mapping Opportunities for
Deafblind People across Europe", May
2014.

5. Difficulties
• For the person with deafblindness
isolation and lack of autonomy
limited opportunities
• For the families and care providers
• For the society
● Communication
● Access to information
● Mobility

6. Modes of Communication
* Source: http://www.dbt.org.au/Internet%202011/AcceTech/SBC.htm
*

7. SUITCEYES Details

8. SUITCEYES Consortium

9. Genesis of the Idea
• Late February 2016
• Organization for supporting schools with special needs children
• Only a few ICT tools facilitating communication and learning for
children with deafblindness
• Intake of information relies on remaining senses of touch, smell,
and taste

10. Genesis of the Idea
• Create a garment that would appropriate smart textiles and IoT
technologies in order to act as a communication interface for
people with deafblindness
• Societal and technological challenges
• Multiple interesting fronts:
– research questions
– development challenges
– means of facilitating learning and information practices
– promoting inclusion
– solving a societal problem

11. Areas of Expertise
Haptic Intelligent Communication Interface

12. Areas of Expertise

13. The Idea

14. The Idea

15. The Idea

16. Interviews with Potential End-Users
• Carry out interviews with people with deafblindness and their
representatives in Germany, Greece, Netherlands, Sweden, UK
• CERB (KEAT in Greek) has offered tremendous assistance thus far!
• Aims:
– Establish current practices, aspirations, unmet needs, barriers and enablers
in social engagement, mobility and use of technology
– Synthesise the findings into requirements specifications
– Produce a set of personas, environments
– Conduct comparative research on policy frameworks across participating
countries

17. Interviews with Potential End-Users
• Carry out interviews with people with deafblindness and their
representatives in Germany, Greece, Netherlands, Sweden, UK
• CERB (KEAT in Greek) has offered tremendous assistance thus far!
• Aims:
– Establish current practices, aspirations, unmet needs, barriers and enablers
in social engagement, mobility and use of technology
– Synthesise the findings into requirements specifications
– Produce a set of personas, environments
– Conduct comparative research on policy frameworks across participating
countries
9 interviews completed
91 to go!

18. How will the HIPI work?
• Various sensors are being explored for the HIPI:
– Ultrasonic distance sensors to detect proximity of obstacles
– Camera feed to allow recognition of objects and people
– Indoor positioning systems to locate objects
– Radio frequency identification to identify when objects come near
• Also, potential feedback modalities are
being explored for the HIPI:
– Vibration
– Pressure
– Temperature
• A processing unit will interpret sensor input against a
knowledge base and determine appropriate feedback
• Smart textiles are used to accommodate sensors, feedback units
and the processing unit on different parts of the body, either
mounted on the textiles, or built into them
and different ways to
combine them to provide rich
signals
* Image source: http://haptisk.nkcdb.se/lage/index.html

19. Perception of the Environment

20. Real-time Object Recognition

21. Real-time Object Recognition

22. • Semantic fusion of output from sensors (cameras, microphones,
etc.) & analysis components.
• Derive higher-level interpretations (rule-based reasoning).
• Context &
situational
awareness
• Navigation
• Emotions
• Healthcare
• Sociocultural
• Haptics
• IoT
Semantic Representation & Reasoning

23. Gamification in HIPI - Easter Egg Hunt
• The HIPI’s haptic and thermal actuators guide a person with deafblindness
towards a target object
– Temperature changes of the thermal actuators and vibration of the haptic actuators
indicate the proximity
– The person with deafblindness is moving according to this feedback
• This process may sound straightforward. However, it presupposes:
– the HIPI’s capability to navigate the user around obstacles
– the user’s ability to learn how to interpret the signals
• Within a safe environment, the Easter Egg Hunt offers a way to make this
learning process fun
• If the users become more proficient, it can easily be extended, to include social
interaction
– E.g. Playing “Hide and Seek” – an everyday game for most children, which currently is
a utopia for users with deafblindness

24. The “Red Dress” Prototype

25. Project Advisory Board (PAB)

26. Extensive Network of Contacts

27. What’s Next?
• Interviews → User Requirements
• Scenarios, direction of research, priorities
• Mid-term review on 29-Nov
• The SUITCEYES community
– Newsletter, social media, workshops & events
• Publications, conferences, collaborations

28. Thank You!
Thank you very much
for your attention!
http://suitceyes.eu/