1. From Accessibility to Empowerment @ Microsoft Research
Manohar Swaminathan

2. Microsoft Research India: Brief overview
~40 PhD researchers from all over the world (mostly CS + some social science)
~15 engineers and applied scientists
~3 program managers
~5 post-doctoral scholars (1-2 years)
~30 pre-doctoral research fellows (1-2 years)
~90 interns/year: students from bachelors, masters and PhD programs (3 – 6 months)

3. Our work and vectors of impact
Foundations (Algorithms, complexity, cryptography)
Machine Learning & AI
Systems (PL, Networking, Distributed Systems, Security, Privacy)
Technology For Emerging Markets
Our vectors of impact
Research impact
Company impact
Societal impact

4. Technologies For Emerging markets
Understand
existing and potential technology users in developing communities.
Design
 build and evaluate technology and systems that contribute to socio-economic development.
Collaborate
with development organizations, governments, academics and industry for large-scale impact.

5. My Bio
UG in Electronics, Masters in Electrical Engineering (IISc, Bangalore)
PhD Computer Science, Brown University
Tenure-track faculty UNC ( )
Faculty at Indian Institute of Science ( )
Co-founder and CEO PicoPeta Simputers Pvt Ltd ( )
Simputer: Linux handheld device for the Indian market
Co-founder Strand Lifesciences ( (2000- )
Genomics based personal medicine company
Co-founder jed-i.in (Joy of engineering, design, and innovation) ( )
Enhancing engineering education in India
Senior researcher at Microsoft Research India (since Dec 2015)

6. Virtual Reality
Realistic simulations of all sensory perceptions to create an illusion of reality
Vision
Hearing
Touch (haptics)
Smell
Taste
Proprioception
Major technology buzz today around Virtual Reality and Mixed Reality

7. Virtual Haircut 3D Sound haircut: Need headphones
What was your experience?
Did you perceive yourself to be seated in a chair with the
hairdresser moving around you and chatting?

8. Spatial Audio
Using signal processing techniques, it is possible to fake the direction of an incoming sound source and its distance to the ear.
Make a normal sound clip sound like it is emanating from a point in space.
Head Related Transfer Function
Inter-aural time delay
Spectral effects

9. Virtual Reality
Realistic simulations of all sensory perceptions to create an illusion of reality
Vision
Hearing
Touch (haptics)
Smell
Taste
Proprioception
Major technology buzz today around Virtual Reality and Mixed Reality

10. Virtual Reality to Accessibility
Working with Vidhya
3D sound games for the blind
Examples: Blind Legend, Ear Monsters, Blind Side, Games in Audio Game Hub
Working with Venkatesh
CodeTalk
CodeScape

11. Project AVARE: Audio-augmented Virtual and Real Environments
Key Abstraction
World perceived through the senses- Reality
World perceived through simulated senses: Virtual Reality
A combination: Mixed Reality
Machine Learning and AI: Use devices like cameras to sense and ‘extrct reality’
The main challenge is to present this to people with disabilities to compensate for their impairments
Audio is the highest bandwidth sense after vision

12. Current Projects CodeTalk (MSR India)
CodeTalk Microsoft Blog
Soundscape (IoS App from Microsoft)
Seeing AI (iOS App from Microsoft)

13. From Accessibility to Empowerment Through Play and Playfullness
Video Games for the vision impaired
VR and MR for the vision impaired
Gaze controlled gaming for people with SSMI

14. Inviting Involvement of people with vision impairment
Contact:

15. Principles of Inclusive design at Microsoft
Recognize exclusion
Exclusion happens when we solve problems using our own biases. Seek out those exclusions, and use them as opportunities to create new ideas and inclusive designs.
Learn from diversity
Human beings are the real experts in adapting to diversity. Inclusive design puts people in the center from the very start of the process, and those fresh, diverse perspectives are the key to true insight.
Solve for one, extend to many
Everyone has abilities, and limits to those abilities. Designing for people with permanent disabilities actually results in designs that benefit people universally. Constraints are a beautiful thing.
We approach inclusive design at Microsoft starting from these 3 principles:
Recognize exclusion – Exclusion happens when we solve problems using our own biases. As Microsoft designers, we seek out those exclusions, and use them as opportunities to create new ideas and inclusive designs.
I always want to read this one in a Captain Kirk voice: “As Microsoft designers, we seek out exclusions, to explore new ideas and create inclusive designs. To boldly go!! … you get the idea”
Learn from diversity – Human beings are the real experts in adapting to diversity. Inclusive design puts people in the center from the very start of the process, and those fresh, diverse perspectives are the key to true insight.
Solve for one, extend to many – Everyone has abilities, and limits to those abilities. Designing for people with permanent disabilities actually results in designs that benefit people universally. Constraints are a beautiful thing.

16. Thanks!
Any Questions?