Update June 2016: Virtual Reality Picture access Descriptions VRPads are now known as a VRGallery.

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We’re intending to release Virtual Reality Picture Access Descriptions – VRPads. Click here to see the one we produced with our partners Avenue Imperial, just click on the arrows and you’ll see potential obstacles or disabled facilities in a journey through the building. Use the arrows on the keyboard to look around.

Here are the ‘still’ shots, it’s just a prototype for now so let us know what you think by contacting us.

Any building should have an access description like our PADs (Pictorial Access Descriptions) they can make a disabled person feel welcome whilst giving them reassurance on what to expect – the only thing left is to get transport systems sorted!!??

Our VRPad Shows a Virtual Journey Through a Building
Our VRPad Shows a Virtual Journey Through a Building
Shows Facilities & Potential Obstacles E.G. No lift - A Prototype For Now. Tell Us What You Think....
Shows Facilities & Potential Obstacles E.G. No lift – A Prototype For Now. Tell Us What You Think….

You can see on your PC or on the new Oculus VR headset….VR isn’t just for games it can be indispensable for disability….Can anyone think of other ways it can help, let us know here?

Oculus Rift Pre-Orders Are Now Open, First Shipments March 28 pre-order for $599 USD on Oculus.com .

Leave a Reply

  1. Shane Hogan

    Interesting technologies, and could certainly add value. I guess it would be important that the technology is designed to be accessible to all. Can the text notices on screen be read out by a screen reader? Can the font size be increased?

    1. Fiona Jarvis Listing Owner

      Good points we certainly will be looking to include these.

  2. Keil Oberlander

    Seeing the “Virtual Journey Through a Building” reminded me of an incredible class I took while at Brown University called “Pathology to Power” taught by the phenomenal teacher and educator Sarah Skeels. It was a class totally focused on the experiences of people with disabilities, understanding the idea of universal accessibility and ADA from the perspective of someone with a disability. For me personally, it was an empowering and affirming experience as someone who lives with mental illness. In this class, we were able to explore a variety of disabilities–physically, cognitively, and emotionally. Professor Skeels, who used a wheelchair, encouraged us to use one of her back-up wheelchairs for an entire day to get around campus. After that, we were to reflect and journal about the experience, and that was about as much information she provided for the optional assignment. After the experience, I realized that it was intentional so that we could discover for ourselves how inaccessible our supposedly accessible and aware campus was and probably still is (I took this course a couple years ago and have since graduated and moved away). Even if there was a marking that indicated a safe route for individuals with disabilities, it was often still along a sidewalk with so many cracks and edges that I almost pitched forward innumerable times, expecting it to be safe and trustworthy since there were signs and spray-painted icons on the ground.

    I think of this experience when I see the Virtual Journey Through a Building because it had notes that were clear about the difficulty of navigating should a person have a physical disability. It is so important for this information to be available so that a person is not surprised by a raise edge in the sidewalk and is in danger of being thrown from the wheelchair. Additionally, what may appear accessible from photos or the perspective of a non-disabled person could actually be perilous for someone with the physical disability. Having a virtual guide that notes hazardous entryways and describes the paths is an incredible support, and should be accessible for a variety of locations. Not only does it help the persons with a disability, but also the people who work there and may not realize how inaccessible their institution may be.

    My suggestion and thought is that it would be an incredible phone app–easily accessible (in your pocket) and crowd-sourced by those who may work at the particular location or simply by those who have visited the same place, walked the same route. It could be a project to which all may contribute and from which all may benefit–those with or without a disability, the elderly, with children, etc. etc. Do you know if something like this does indeed/already exist?