Designing for the fullness of human experience

Anat Caspi sits on a couch opposite the host of New Day NW

Anat Caspi and Taskar Center featured on King 5’s New Day Northwest A familiar face joined Margaret Larson on New Day NW this morning. Anat Caspi, Director of the Taskar Center and Director of Translation for the UW Accessibility Center, shared recent innovations from robotics to smart, sensing environments. Technology design has taken this stance about designing for the “average” person. And in many cases that is a big design mismatch to the needs and preferences of people who are…

With AI and other tech, Anat Caspi focuses on helping people with disabilities

a table that uses sensors and cameras to understand and adjust to the needs of its users by swiveling and tilting

The Seattle Times | August 4, 2019 In her role as the director of the University of Washington’s Taskar Center for Accessible Technology, Caspi creates technology focused on people with disabilities such as motor limitations, in many instances applying artificial intelligence (AI). “It’s really about treating people as humans with different needs and preferences,” she said as a cyclist passing by rang a bell. She sees the mapping of pedestrian infrastructure — walkways, sidewalks, overpasses, underpasses and trails — as a necessary…

Jennifer Mankoff, Director

Jennifer Mankoff wears a blue sweater over a red shirt and sports dark brown wavy hair with grey streaks.

CREATE Director Dr. Jennifer Mankoff’s research focuses on accessibility broadly speaking. “In doing this work, I emphasize values such as intersectionality, and perspectives such as disability studies. For example, in the domain of Deaf/Hard of Hearing (DHH) technology, I am exploring how people who are multilingual engage with communication technology. Another focus of my work is creating general tools so that anyone can use them, such as 3D printing, knitting, and other fabrication technologies. I have led the effort to better understand both clinical and do-it-yourself (DIY) stakeholders’ use of fabrication technologies, and developed better, more usable tools for production. Together, these can enhance the capabilities and participation of all users in today’s manufacturing revolution.”