Toyota Partner Robot — John

My fellow intern testing BLAID in a potentially difficult to navigate area. We were blindfolded and learned how to use a white cane, but our skills came nowhere close to those  of many visually impaired persons. — My fellow intern testing BLAID in a potentially difficult to navigate area. We were blindfolded and learned how to use a white cane, but our skills came nowhere close to those of many visually impaired persons.

In the summer of 2016, I was a paid intern at Toyota Partner Robot Group, now part of Toyota Research Institute (TRI). I was awarded this internship as a result of winning a design challenge, organized by Toyota and Net Impact. You can find more info on mine and my team's winning idea and the competition as a whole here. During my time at Toyota, I worked with another intern on Toyota's BLAID project. This project assignment came as a result of building pieces of StreetSmart's functionality around BLAID. At its core, BLAID is a wearable that enables members of the visually impaired community to live with a greater sense of confidence and independence. As a member of the BLAID team, I worked extensively with the visually impaired - from legally blind to total vision loss - to initially gain some understanding of their day to day life. With the knowledge from personal interactions, research papers and internet discovery, the other intern and I then turned to BLAID. We pushed its capabilities, understood priorities of the office and Toyota, and then brainstormed simple, cost-effective changes that would have the most impact on the quality of life for the end users. Finally, we put together a proposal and plan of action for the future and expansion of BLAID, and presented it to the Partner Robot Office and visiting directors within Toyota. It was an eye-opening experience within the setting of an office at a large company, and being able to work with visually impaired individuals all summer was incredibly motivating.