AccessAI Next Phase: Research Deck

Slide 1

AccessAI Next Phase

AI-Powered Multimodal Environmental Awareness

A platform vision for translating sound, sensor events, and context into haptics, Braille, text, visual alerts, and connected devices.

Sense

AI

Access

Prepared concept brief

Slide 2

Why this next phase matters

Current accessibility solutions are fragmented; AccessAI can translate the environment through the user’s preferred channel.

AccessAI Next Phase

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Current reality

Doorbell flashes a light

Smoke alarm shakes a bed

Phone app shows text

Problem: separate devices, separate alerts, little context, often visual-first

AccessAI opportunity

Recognize

Interpret

Personalize

Translate accessibly

Goal: one intelligent accessibility layer that follows the person across home, travel, school, work, and public environments.

Slide 3

The platform vision

AccessAI is not just a detector. It is an accessibility translation layer.

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Physical world

Sense

AI recognition

AI interpretation

Personalize

Translate

Accessible experience

Same event. Different accessible outputs.

Deaf user: watch vibration + text

DeafBlind user: haptics + Braille

Other user: bed shaker + smart lights

Slide 4

Where AI fits

AI is the recognition and interpretation layer between the environment and accessible output.

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Microphone / sensor receives signal

AI extracts patterns

AI classifies the event

AccessAI communicates

Example output probabilities

Smoke alarm 96% Siren 2% Doorbell 1% Other 1%

AI does not replace haptics, Braille, or sensors. It makes them intelligent.

Accessible outputs Haptic | Braille | Text | Visual | Smart device

Slide 5

Use AI where it is strong, sensors where sensors are stronger

The smartest system is multimodal, not AI-only.

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AI-friendly sounds

Smoke alarm CO alarm Siren Vehicle horn Appliance tone

Better with direct sensors

Door knock Door movement Water leak Building alarm Machine status

AccessAI Fusion

Microphones

Door sensors

Smart home

One meaningful event “Visitor at front door”

Slide 6

Initial event classes

Start narrow: high-value events, reliable alerts, measurable performance.

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Life safety

Smoke / fire alarm CO alarm Emergency siren Vehicle danger

Home awareness

Doorbell Door activity Phone ringing Running water

Human attention

Name called Caregiver voice Baby crying Visitor present

Work / public

Equipment alarm Announcement Transit alert Evacuation tone

AccessAI should answer four questions: What happened? Where? How urgent? How should this user receive it?

Slide 7

Haptics become a language

Move from generic buzzes to tactile meaning.

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1

Pattern = event

2

Location = direction

3

Strength = urgency

4

Repetition = persistence

Door knock •••

Siren ⇢ ⇢ ⇢

Fire alarm !!! !!! !!!

Running water ~~~~~

Name called personal pattern

User-created haptics are essential: DeafBlind users should not have to memorize arbitrary developer-chosen buzzes.

Slide 8

DeafBlind-first design changes the product

Visual alerts can supplement the system, but they cannot be the only fallback.

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Design test

Can this be understood without hearing?

Can this be understood without vision?

Primary outputs

Tactile patterns Directional vibration Refreshable Braille Physical emergency alerts

Information hierarchy

Haptic = attention Braille = detail Direction = location Intensity = urgency

Build with Deaf and DeafBlind users, not just for them.

Slide 9

Privacy by design

Environmental awareness must not become continuous surveillance.

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Raw audio

Local AI classification

Event data

Accessible alert

Example stored/transmitted event EVENT: DOORBELL CONFIDENCE: 94% LOCATION: FRONT PRIORITY: MEDIUM

Goal: understand the event without unnecessarily recording the environment.

Slide 10

Three connected product environments

The platform can begin small and scale through integration.

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AccessAI Home

Doors Alarms Appliances Bedroom / bath safety Smart-home devices

AccessAI Go

Travel Hotels Workplaces Classrooms Public spaces

AccessAI Connect

Secure API Hotels Universities Hospitals Transportation

Connect is the long-term platform play: external systems send events, AccessAI handles accessibility.

Slide 11

Recommended first prototype

Use existing devices first; validate the intelligence layer before custom hardware.

AccessAI Next Phase

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Input

Microphone Door sensor Phone sensors

Edge AI

Classify sound Score confidence

Event data

Type Duration Direction

Intelligence

Context Priority User profile

Output

Haptic Text Braille Smart devices

Prototype event set: smoke/fire alarm, CO alarm, door activity, doorbell, phone, name called, appliance timer, vehicle horn, siren, running water.

Reliability before feature count: ten high-value events done well beat one hundred unreliable detections.

Slide 12

Development roadmap

A staged plan lowers risk and keeps the user experience central.

AccessAI Next Phase

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1

Recognition

High-value event detection

2

Haptic language

Tactile patterns with users

3

Personalization

User rules and preferences

4

Direction

Spatial haptic awareness

5

Braille integration

DeafBlind detail layer

6

Connected systems

APIs and partner events

7

Custom hardware

Build only after validation

Start with software + existing hardware. Add custom wearables when user research shows exactly what is needed.

Slide 13

User research and safety validation

The system must be tested for usefulness, comfort, trust, and safety.

AccessAI Next Phase

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Research participants

Deaf users DeafBlind users Late-deafened users Hard-of-hearing users Cochlear implant / hearing-aid users

Measure

Accuracy False alarms Missed events Latency Haptic recognition Alert fatigue Trust

Safety principle

Assistive awareness, not a replacement for legally required alarms. Critical functions need redundancy, offline operation, and failure testing.

If everything vibrates, nothing feels important. Alert fatigue is a safety issue.

Slide 14

What makes AccessAI different

The defensible value is not “AI” alone. It is accessible understanding.

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Not just…

A sound detector A haptic wearable A Deaf accessibility app A notification system

AccessAI combines

AI + sensors Context + confidence Haptics + Braille Personalization + APIs

To deliver…

Accessible environmental awareness that follows the person across settings.

AI is not the product. The product is accessible understanding of the environment.

Slide 15

Mission for the next phase

AccessAI will develop an AI-powered, multimodal environmental awareness platform that identifies meaningful events, understands their context, urgency, location, and relevance, and translates them into personalized haptic, tactile, Braille, visual, or text-based information.

AccessAI does not make the world louder. It makes the world understandable.

Next step: prototype the intelligence layer with existing devices, define the haptic language with users, and validate the first high-value event set.