VEMI Lab

VEMI is proud to announce new work with Dr. Caitlin Howell supported by UMaine’s AI Initiative. In this project, our team is working to create an accessible method for rapid, remote detection of surface contamination. This will be achieved by using nanotextured surfaces inspired by nature and incorporate real-time machine learning. Our findings will lead […]

VEMI is pleased to announce their partnership with Dr. Salimeh Sekeh on a new project for “Improving Adversarial Attack Detection Toward Robustness of Deep Neural Networks”. Our research will focus on algorithm implementation for student’s advancing autonomous human-vehicle interaction, allowing for many real-world safety applications. This will also allow our researchers to gain experience in […]

Click here to learn about VEMI’s self-driving car project with researchers at Northeastern University. The article discusses VEMI’s research with how humans interact with technology, as well as some potential issues with current autonomous vehicle designs.

Dr. Giudice and collaborators publish new paper providing a compilation of guidelines and best practices for designing and implementing accessible multimodal graphics via the touchscreen of smart devices (phones and tablets). The guidelines are empirically tested in a user study with 22 blind users based on a range of STEM-based graphics. Challenges for future research […]

Dr. Giudice and collaborators publish new paper on indoor navigation. The research investigated the use of a speech-based navigation system and the role of memory in how route information is provided to the user. Results showed similar navigation performance between sighted and blind users of the system and for the first time, showed that older […]

Click here to hear Dr. Corey and Dr. Giudice talk about automated driving and the VEMI lab’s research around it on MIT’s “In Machines We Trust” podcast, episode “AI in the Driver’s Seat”

New Instagram Post! Find out what the VEMI lab is up to by keeping updated with our Instagram page! This time, meet one of our newest members… Izzy!

Click the following link to take a listen to Dr. Giudice discussing VEMI accessibility research and challenges of navigating with blindness in the COVID-19 environment on the Pulse (accessibility) podcast: https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/amiaudio/the-pulse-on-amiaudio/e/75589527

VEMI researchers publish new paper providing guidelines and best practices for non-visual access to graphical material using touchscreen-based haptic interfaces. The article, published in the International Journal of Human-Computer Interaction (IJHCI), synthesizes the results of a series of six studies with both blind and sighted participants evaluating the efficacy of the vibro-audio interface previously developed […]

The paper, published in Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, demonstrates that a new type of mapping interface developed in the Lab, called a vibro-audio map (VAM), is as effective as the current gold standard tactile map solution for learning indoor buildings and supporting subsequent wayfinding behavior. To view the abstract or read the full paper, see: […]