The conference usually draws more than 4,500 persons annually who attend sessions, visit the exhibition halls, and participate in affiliate meetings and informal gatherings. Given the current situation related to the coronavirus pandemic, some exhibitors and participants withdrew from participation in this year’s conference. However, Harpo attended the conference, presented SUITCEYES on the project stand during the whole event and shared further plans of SUITCEYES!

Harpo further took the opportunity to talk to a person with deafblindness (a participant of this conference), who pointed to the need of quick communication (direct, face-to-face) with a sighted person, e.g.

• a bus driver: to be able to ask him to indicate the stop where to get off
• a passerby: asking for directions, moving around the city

It was a very inspiring conversation to explore even more the way in which people with deafblindness can communicate immediately with sighted and hearing people.

Unfortunately, however, it was the last opportunity to share the results and experience of SUITCEYES with CSUN AT Conference visitors from around the world.

The post SUITCEYES on CSUN AT Conference 2020 in Anaheim, USA appeared first on SUITCEYES.

“Na Tak meetings” are a series of international conferences organized by the Na Tak Association and the Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań. Harpo was the strategic partner of the conference. This year the conference was attended by 252 persons. Among the guests of the conference were special educators, therapists, physiotherapists, carers and assistants of people with disabilities, as well as students, parents and volunteers.

As every year “Na Tak meeting” took under consideration issues of living with disability from many perspectives. Visitors of the conference could hear different lectures presented by academic lecturers, practicing therapists and physiotherapists, successfully working with people suffering from profound and multiple disabilities, who shared with the audience their knowledge, experience and working methods.

There was also an exhibition during the conference. The exhibitors presented specialised electronic devices and supporting technologies necessary for the therapy and education of people with different disabilities. Technologies dedicated to individuals with disabilities allow to take part in social life, increase independence and make everyday life easier. We hope that SUITCEYES will contribute to existing solutions and add them a whole new quality.

The SUITCEYES project was promoted by Harpo, at our design stand. We presented the poster and distributed promotional materials, and discussed the goals of the project with visitors. We also reported the progress and current stage of SUITCEYES. We had many visitors, who were very interested and curious to see final results of the project, and the product ready to use.

The post SUITCEYES on Na Tak conference in Poznań appeared first on SUITCEYES.

The two-day conference was hosted by Eikholt, which is a National Resource Centre for the deafblind related issues and a living arena for synergies and competence development. The conference was attended by around 85 people from Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Iceland, and England.

Many of the participants (both speakers and audience) were individuals with deafblindness. It was fun to see that many of the speakers had connection with SUITCEYES as members of the project advisory board (Thomas Ragnarsson (SPSM, Nkcdb), Henrik Hildemar (Mogård), Rolf Lund (Eikholt), and Linda Eriksson (Nkcdb)), there were also other project advisors among the audience.

The speakers, came from multiple expertise areas. The project members presented an overview of SUITCEYES as well as a short account of the recent developments within the project. The rest of the program was also packed with very interesting and inspiring talks about digital future (e.g., by Silvija Seres); congenital deafblindness and technology (by our advisers Thomas and Henrik); different technical support that is offered by national organizations; or recent technological solutions available and ways in which they can be adapted to individual needs (e.g., by Rolf Mjønes). Other speakers talked about personal experiences. For example, Molly Watts, a usability and accessibility consultant, or in her own words an “inclusive technology evangelist”, gave a most inspiring talk about different perspectives on deafblindness (both hers and others). A couple of points in her talk highlighted that to get along, she has to strategize everything she does, and that she did not want to use tools or aids that would be stigmatizing; she preferred assistive devices that look cool, and fashionable.

Many of the participants were housed in the comfortable accommodations located at Eikholt, therefore, this event provided plenty of opportunities for continued conversations, feedback and brainstorming on future collaborations. An important outcome of these discussions was the decision to organize participatory co-design workshops at Eikholt. In this way the SUITCEYES consortium could come together with end users (people with deafblindness, but also interpreters, professional care providers, family members, etc) and member of project advisory board in a sort of living lab for collaborative work on design decisions, pushing forward feature developments. These workshops are now planned to take place in week 14 of 2020. The event details are being planned and the whole SUITCEYES consortium is looking forward to this opportunity.

The post ICT Conference at Eikholt in Drammen, Norway appeared first on SUITCEYES.

The post SUITCEYES presented at SMS conference appeared first on SUITCEYES.

The post WellNylon introduces SUITCEYES project appeared first on SUITCEYES.

The post SUITCEYES project in spotlight on ModeInTextile appeared first on SUITCEYES.

Network, learn and share …

At the turn from January to February 2019 the Board of Harpo (Jarek Urbanski and Ola Cebernik) attended the Assistive Technology Industry Association ATIA 2019 Orlando Conference and Exhibition. Practitioners and parents, teachers and researchers, manufacturers, and distributors -individuals and organizations who together reach more than 1 million people with disabilities – all come to the ATIA Conference to:

• Network with colleagues, customers, and the community,
• Learn about the latest trends, tools, and best practices,
• Share their insights to enhance opportunities for persons with disabilities.

The ATIA Conference addresses all disabilities and all types of assistive technology (AT) for all ages, from early childhood to senior. Sessions and events embrace the education market, university-level disability services, technology for independent living, accommodations for the workplace, needs of an aging population, and research on technology developments and outcomes.

ATIA 2019 included about 350 education sessions and over 100 AT exhibitors. Moreover more than 2,500 senior-level program directors, special education teachers, therapists, service providers, higher education teachers, corporate accessibility teams and workplace accommodations specialists from around the world participated in ATIA 2019.

Such a diverse environment is ideal for spreading the idea of SUITCEYES and the HIPI interface. We have been talking to many participants and exhibitors, have been meeting contractors and have promoted our project. Thanks to wide spectrum of audience we could consult experts in their industry and share our thoughts on AT solutions. ATIA Conference turned out to be another opportunity to share promotional materials of the project with the participants.

As the organizers of the Conference say, ATIA is a place where the Assistive Technology Community meets to … network, learn, and share…

The post SUITCEYES on ATIA Conference 2019 appeared first on SUITCEYES.