All.Draw
Apoorva Avadhana
Apoorva is a Brooklyn-based neuro-divergent experimental researcher working on grassroots innovation, bridging the mismatches in people’s capabilities and the environment/product/platform they interact with. She has professional experience as a UX researcher and Accessibility SME, for clients like IBM, TSB, and MetLife. She has a B.Des in Human Centered Design(HCD) and an MPS in Interactive Telecommunications(NYU ITP) and, has gained badges and led workshops and trainings in Accessibility and Corporate Design Thinking Frameworks. ITP led her to ‘experimental research’, A research design practice that involves ‘making’ as rapid and iterative low-scale prototyping’ to collect, test, and synthesize information for actionable insights. She is a research resident at NYU ITP for the Ability Project. Herein, she is working with ml5.js to research applications of AI x Art x A11y, HeartShare to improve adaption methodologies, Level the Curve where she designs 3D printable assistive gripping tools, and the Ability Project where she is evaluating the accessibility within design methodologies. Her published work includes: Plural Navigation: Navigation for a Wholesome Experience Receptive Design Methodologies: Human-Centered Design methodologies that are receptive to adaptation, accessibility, and inclusivity. Portfolio: https://apoorvaavadhana.com/ Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/apoorva-a/ Email: apoorvaavadhana@gmail.com
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What inspired you to make this project?
I started this project as part of my thesis while visiting various facilities supporting people with vision and motor disabilities. Two of the participants, who were wheelchair users with spinal cord injuries, were aspiring artists interested in painting and creating YouTube videos about their art. They had been working with art therapists who taught them to use stamps, stickers, and sponges to paint, but they wanted to use a paintbrush to create strokes. While I was taking notes on my iPad, they insisted on trying to draw on Procreate. This insight led me to work with the undergraduate class I was a teaching assistant for, to create adapted paintbrushes that they could hold. We took the brushes to them, and they were thrilled to be making strokes. However, the process of painting involves many steps—dipping the brush in water, then painting, wiping the brush on a rag—and they still needed assistance with these tasks due to their very limited mobility in their upper limbs. This prompted me to explore how artists with spinal cord injuries paint. Some examples included head pointers, mouth sticks, or simply holding the paintbrush in their mouth. These methods, however, still required enough mobility and core strength to move the entire upper body in various directions. I realized there should be a way to create strokes using small neck movements alone. An example of adaptive painting using a rolling marble further solidified the concept. By calculating the distance between one's eyes and nose, I detected the pitch, roll, and yaw of their face, allowing them to nudge a digital moving ball on the screen.