STEM II takes place during D term at Mass Academy. In groups, we complete an engineering project that serves as an Assistive Device that can help a potential client in need. The CEO in my group was Zoe Butzke, the CTO was Sreeja Bolla, the CIO was Rhik Mazumder, and I was the CMO. We chose to make an assistive device for people with visual impairments to aid with the COVID-19 testing process. Please scroll to learn more!
People with visual impairments are at “high risk” for COVID, however, there is a lack of at-home medical diagnostic tests for visually impaired persons (VIPs). In order to test, individuals with visual impairments typically need to obtain help from an aide or go into a testing center to test and/or obtain results. This can put the customer’s aide at risk of COVID or put the customer at risk when leaving the testing center. Standard COVID tests can be difficult for VIPs to use due to inaccessible instructions and the visual nature of testing results. Common issues include inaccessible instructions, use of graphics to give instructions, use of visual cues (ex. Unscrew a small orange cap), minimal specification of where to put droplets, Small parts, easily lost, and hard to find. Results require vision to interpret.
Below is our slideshow that we presented at the STEM II Fair in May. It includes our poster, design approach, final prototypes, and more.