Disability, Technology, Art, Ethnography, Activism, and Access
Karen Nakamura, Professor
Anthropology
Applications for Spring 2024 are closed for this project.
The Berkeley Disability Lab (https://disabilitylab.berkeley.edu/) has been working on several projects involving disability, technology, art, activism, and access in the Bay Area. We welcome students from all fields of the university (arts, engineering, social sciences, communications, CS, design, music, architecture, etc.), and people with personal experience of disability or exclusion are particularly welcome.
You will be working in teams.
Team projects that we have run in the past include:
*Google TensorFlow - learn and teach TensorFlow basics to disabled community members. End goal of learning how ML can incorporate biases of ML algorithm designers and trainers, and how to correct for such bias
*Team Ethnography - ethnographic research relevant to the field of disability studies and engineering for disabled people
*Team Propaganda - accessible front-end website design and communication
* Leonardo CripTech facilitation – working with artists and post-doc on a project related to art, technology, and disability
* Sensible Computing – the creation of an integrated development environment (IDE) that does not use a screen/keyboard/mouse for teaching early learners coding and robotics
* Environmental Sensing – creation of tools that map the sensorial environment (light/noise/volatile chemicals) in order to create more inclusive spaces for people with light/sound/chemical sensitivities
*Respirator – open-source design of positive air pressure (PAP) respirator for disabled folx who are unable to use surgical style masks or (K)N95 masks.
*Telepresence - designing of a virtual hybrid interface for classrooms
* ABetterLoop – creation of an autonomous LOOP system for campus
While we welcome people coming in with existing technical skills as well as all forms of lived experience, we will also be training you in disability culture, disability experience, and technical skills. A willingness to experience different worlds and draw upon different forms of (disability) knowledge is required.
Spring 2024 we look forward to continuing some of these projects while also organizing several disability related conferences.
Role: Coming up with the technologies will require:
1. Background research and reading
2. Research specific user needs
3. Design monitoring, evaluation, adaptation tech
4. Field test the adaptations / monitoring with user feedback
5. Writing up the design in a way that can be shared and hacked by the disability community
5. Iterate design
Students will learn how to conduct research into adaptive technology and design. They will learn how to conduct field interviews and run field tests and how to iterate feedback into the design process.
Qualifications: Qualifications: Students with lived experience with disabilities, neurodiversity, or environmental sensitivity are particularly invited to apply. Background experience with standard makerspace tools (Arduino, Raspberry Pi, 3D design tools, CNC, 3D printing, videography and editing, etc.) would be a plus but can also be learned through this lab.
Required: Students must be available for the weekly all-lab meeting and lunch every Friday from 12-2p. This is in addition to your own project team scrum meetings, which you can decide with your teammates and the lab manager. We ask that members dedicate 6-8 a week to the URAP (3hrs for meetings; 3-5 for specific project work). Required: Students will need to agree with both a lab code of conduct agreement as well as lab equipment safety requirements and trainings.
Day-to-day supervisor for this project: Nathan Tilton, Ph.D. candidate
Hours: 6-8 hrs
Related website: https://disabilitylab.berkeley.edu/
Related website: http://disability.jp/nakamura