Fenestra Project

Education through integration!

This project allows people with visual disabilities to study together on equal terms with normally sighted people.

Problem definition:

During the frequent consultations of development team with the representatives of the target auditorium, organization "Vikno v svit", the following main problems were uncovered:
  • Modern interfaces are too rich with graphics and animation (especially web pages) which makes them almost useless for visually disabled people
  • Special devices for such users are too expensive
  • Special organizations, which was created to help people with visual disabilities, unintentionally isolate such people from other, which create severe social problem for them

Functionality:

Fenestra provides the following functionality:
  • interaction with the computer using a fingertips reader,
  • voice synthesis/recognition,
  • a special web browser for blind people,
  • handwriting recognition,
  • audio/video transmission,
  • mouse touch and touch vision technologies for desktop applications.
Project Fenestra was created for both visually disabled and normally sighted people. Depending on the current user the program can work either in usual or special mode (for visually disabled people). In the mode for normally sighted people the system has nice and simple interface based on the Widows Presentation Foundation. Audio, video transition and remote lessons are available in both modes. In the special mode the system has voice interface which can be fully controlled by the user. The problem of entering data and interaction with the system by visually disabled people is solved using voice recognition and interacting with the help of fingertips reader. Since each human has unique fingertips on each finger it allows wide range of possibilities for interacting with the program. In the case of visually disabled people it is even more convenient since such people got used to perceive tactile information very well.


Fenestra Team participated in Imagine Cup 2007 competition at the World Finals in Seoul, Korea. We were in the semi-final round among 12 best teams.
Last updated: 18.12.2020,
created: August 2007.