post written by Elliot Kotek
Q. Talk to us about HugMatch. How did the idea start?
A. Growing up with an uncle with disability, and volunteering to help disabled people, inspired my passion to do a project for them. I know how difficult it is to be disabled and the kind of discrimination you have to endure as a disabled person. I always aspire to create something that is emotionally rich and grounded in meaning as a designer. I try to keep myself passionate in assisting someone who is in need of help. I also believe that inspiring surroundings can have positive effect on its people’s lives.
I have a background in graphic design and I've been always curious about designing for people without sight. To find out what can help visually impaired people, I visited and interviewed people from schools and societies for the blind in New York and New Jersey - St. Joseph's School for the Blind, Lighthouse International, Helen Keller Services for the Blind - Through research, I learned that between the ages of 2 and 5 is the most important period of development. After 5 years of age, the fingertips' senses dull, so, exposing 2-5 year olds to a variety of fundamental experiences is essential.
I saw the different style of toys that they've got, and so I tried designing Hugmatch to focus on the things the visually-impaired children lack, such as the understanding of an object, communication skills, and social interaction with peers. The senses of touch and hearing are also the senses that the visually-impaired develop more than non-visually-impaired peers.
Q. How hard was it to get real feedback from the kids as to what you were designing? Or was it just a case of just waiting to see if they smile and continue to play?
The hardest part about this project was to find the users because there aren’t many visually impaired children so it was hard to make connections with them. So, I visited many communities during the research. I could interview visually impaired adults, children, their teacher, and physical, occupational, speech therapists.
Q. They hug each other?
A. Yes. I have created 18 baby dolls and 2 mother dolls, all made with different textures and sounds. Two or more players simply put the mother dolls around their chest and find the baby dolls with matching texture. The players can find out if they’ve got a match or not by listening to a sound while closing their eyes. The first player to find the right baby doll wins. When the dolls match, it says “You did it!” and if they don’t, it says “Try one more time” with vibration. I believe, by hugging dolls, the children can experience how people exchange and express their love for each other.
Q. Who was the first person to try them?
A. Visually impaired adult.
Q. You brought it to him. And what was his reaction when he experienced it?
A. He was happy with that. He started laughing and was, like "Awesome!" He also told me that the time period between those ages are when the sense of touch develops the most in the fingertips. His comment gave me better ideas in developing this project.
Q. How did that make you feel?
A. It made me so happy. This is the first product that I have created that his impressions gave me stronger belief in myself and also a passion to develop this product better.
Q. Is there an opportunity to replicate this? It seems so hand-crafted right now, which is great, as they have so much personality. But, how will you make more?
A. If I have a chance, then I would definitely want to make more, but since this was my Graduate school thesis project and I graduated two months ago it’s hard to find time to develop this further. I will definitely find time to develop this more in the near future.
Q. You're a recent college graduate? so... where are you now?
A. I'm a UI/UX (User interface/ User experience designer) at Amazon.
Q. Let's talk more your inspiration, your uncle. Is he blind?
A. No, He has other disability.
Q. So that gave you the original awareness around this issue. Have you done other things to help different communities?
A. Well, the fact that my uncle has disability gave me the original awareness around helping the disabled people. To help them, I have volunteered to help seniors and handicapped people since my childhood.
Q. And it's all because of your uncle?
A. Somewhat.. thinking about him gave me an initial idea to develop something for people with disabilities. I was very careful coming up with ideas and executing them so I could come up with a project that can help people with visual impairment. I imagined the smiles on the faces of the children playing with my prototypes. I researched endlessly for one year and I feel the lack of studies on visually impaired people. All my hard work was paid off when I visited the center for the visually impaired and saw the children having fun playing with HugMatch. I was truly happy.
Q. What’s something that's seen as being impossible now, but that you would want to make not impossible?
A. A world experienced through your heart with your eyes closed and ears opened, We can make something not impossible. Studying and creating something you have never experienced can not be accomplished without a passion. I was faced with many challenges when I first started this project. But what fueled my passion was trying to seek what I could do to help after visiting and meeting people from schools and societies for the blind. I hope HugMatch can play a role in supporting anyone who decides to deliver a project for people with disabilities.
Q. To help them find other people, bring them into relationships?
A. Yes, It's should be better than alone. I would like to help more than ten, more than a hundred people.
