This week we researched more into user needs and wants and how to reflect those needs and wants into our navigation mechanism. The main idea we came up with was the anchor point navigation mechanism: a graph-based architecture that connects information in the virtual environment, allowing users to explore and navigate more easily. Additionally, we explored existing solutions on how to make VR environments and games accessible. In the upcoming week, we will explore and expand upon more of these concepts and solutions. We will also contact authors and developers of the existing accessibility solutions to learn more.

After exploring different VR engines and platforms, such as Mozilla Hub, we decided to use the Unity game engine to build our initial proof of concepts. Shown on the right is the initial Unity Scene we would build upon to make it accessible to blind users. Starting next week, we will start getting more familiar with Unity. After that, we will start exploring ways to translate sensory inputs that are not accessible to blind users to be user accessible.