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Help us help you.

When we develop products, it’s always good to hear from the people who use them so we can make sure we’re hitting our mark. And because our egos are (mostly) in check, we like to collaborate with other inventors to help them get their products ready for market. It’s all just part of our mission to make the world a more accessible place where people with vision loss and multiple disabilities can lead the most independent and productive lives possible. Keep reading to see how you can get involved.

A model and pattern maker at work in the model shop

Test a Product

As a product tester, you’ll be providing a great service to not just us, but to the entire community with vision loss by making sure our designs are not only useful, but easy-to-use. All you need to do is qualify and we’ll get in touch with some instruction and some products to test.

Take a Survey

Surveys help inform us of the greatest needs in the community so we can gear our efforts on making sure those needs are met. Select the button below to learn about our latest survey.

Suggest a Product

We work with inventors regularly to help them flesh out their ideas to the point where they have products ready for manufacture. So, if you have a product idea, we’d love to hear from you.

Studies and Focus Groups

  • APH has received feedback from the field that there is interest in a device that can help detect if someone is eye pressing. Health effects of eye pressing can range from eye infections, retinal detachment, further impairment to a person’s vision, and ultimately could lead to an individual needing prosthetics. We received feedback from individuals who were blind or low vision that mentioned once they started eye pressing it distracted them from orientation and mobility lessons and reading, noting that they were not aware they were eye pressing until being alerted by a spouse, teacher, or parent.

    Along with HabitAware, we are looking into designing a bracelet that can detect if the wearer is eye pressing. HabitAware has already created a bracelet for other repetitive body behaviors which includes hair-pulling, nail biting, and skin picking. It works by notifying a user with a vibration that they are doing the repetitive body behavior and allows for the user to make the choice if they want to continue doing the behavior or not.

    APH and HabitAware are looking to study individuals that eye press to ensure the accuracy of the device. Multiple ways of eye pressing could be occurring, and may be different from kids to adults, so participants are needed to assist with fine tuning the algorithm. If you have any questions please feel free to contact me at jhodge@aph.org.

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