Help us turn research into working prototypes
We're a student team building assistive AI that gives blind and low-vision people back their independence. The ideas are proven. Now we need hardware to build the prototypes real people can test. That's where you come in.
Award-winning research, ready for the real world
Our three projects (Feel the Ball, EnAct, and Just Look) began as internationally showcased student research proving that AI can translate motion, gaze, and scene context into real-world action for people with sensory and motor limitations. We've shown the ideas work. To put them in the hands of the community for real testing, we need to build physical prototypes, and that takes hardware we can't fund on a student budget alone.
Every dollar follows the same path
Your contribution moves a proven idea through four stages, from raw parts all the way to a real person testing the tool in their own life:
Buy the hardware
Depth cameras, haptic motors, eye-tracking devices, and the compute to run our AI in real time. This is the raw material every prototype is built from.
Build the prototype
Turning parts and code into a device someone can actually hold, wear, and use, including enclosures, boards, and the assembly that makes it reliable enough to test.
Recruit users
Reaching blind, low-vision, and ALS community members and partner organizations, so the people the tool is built for are the ones shaping it.
Support users through the study
Running accessible, fairly compensated testing sessions, covering travel and access needs, and staying with each participant from first session to last.
Stages shown as an outline: replace with your real budget breakdown before launch.
A full cost breakdown
The four stages above are the story. Here is the accounting behind them, including the software, compliance, and contingency costs that a careful supporter or grant reviewer will look for. Replace the estimates with your real figures before launch.
| Area | What it covers | Type | Estimate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hardware | Depth cameras, haptic motors, eye-tracking devices, boards, enclosures, and assembly parts. | One-time | [ $ ] |
| Build & iterate | Building each prototype and revising it across versions. Hardware rarely works on the first try. | One-time | [ $ ] |
| Software & services | Cloud GPU / AI inference, speech and vision APIs, eye-tracking SDK licenses, app-store accounts, hosting, domain, and secure storage for study data. | Recurring | [ $ / yr ] |
| Recruit users | Reaching blind, low-vision, and ALS community members and partner organizations to take part. | One-time | [ $ ] |
| Support users through the study | Fairly compensated testing sessions, participant travel and access needs, and shipping devices to remote testers. | One-time | [ $ ] |
| Ethics, safety & insurance | IRB / ethics review, liability insurance for testing devices with people, and consent documents in accessible formats. | One-time | [ $ ] |
| Contingency | A 10 to 15% buffer for the parts, overruns, and repairs a hardware project always meets. | Buffer | [ $ ] |
| Total goal | What we are raising to complete the next build and study cycle. | [ $ ] |
Estimates are placeholders. A specific, justified total raises more than a round guess.
Built with the community, not just for it
Assistive technology is too often designed without the people it's meant to serve. We work the other way around: every prototype we build goes straight to blind and low-vision volunteers to test and shape. Your support doesn't just fund parts: it funds a process that keeps disabled people at the center of what gets made.
Not able to give? You can still help enormously by sharing our GoFundMe, or by volunteering to test our prototypes. Both make a real difference.
Help us build the next prototype
Any amount brings a working assistive tool closer to the people who need it. Thank you for being part of it.