I had the chance to attend some of the para-olympics games in Paris and notably the blind football. Aside the fact that it was amazing to "see" visually impaired people play football in such a dynamic and tactile way too (I'm not a football fan I must admit), it made me think of how accessible these games are. It is one of the goals of the ABILITY project of course through the localised vibrotactile feedback tablet, but it is not yet available. However, it reminded me that a while ago we had a visit at CEA from an engineer student who had made his goal to render such games accessible to visually impaired and blind individuals. I noticed in the audience that some people were using a setup similar to his idea. After searching a bit the internet, what a happy surprise to realise that he achieved his dream and provided these tablets to the Olympics organisators. The tablet (and the Touch2see startup) has evolved since his first idea, where he consulted us about recommendations for the haptic feedback, into a nice and sleak design. The ball can be moved through magnetic effects and vibrations are used to convey additional information. These tablets, as informed by a volunteer, were controlled remotely by a central person who was providing the location of the ball and from the website, another (or the same) person was providing audio description. I did not manage to talk to some users, but it is nice to note that only there is progress in that respect and that also big committees such as the paraolympics committee are leveraging these new technologies relying on haptics.
A link to a video though in French to see the operation of the tablet: https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1125728471818616
Link to the company Touch2see: https://touch2see.fr/en/
And some pictures about the tablet and amazing location in front of the Eiffel Tower:
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