The NYU Ability Lab, in cooperation with AT&T, launched the NYU Connect Ability challenge which asks participants to create or refine existing technology to offer user-friendly modes of communication for people with disabilities. Apps, wearables and creative devices are just some of the innovations participants can come up with to meet the needs of the challenge.

The three-month challenge commenced with a hackathon on April 18 to 19. The winner of the challenge, who will receive $100,000 to financially support the innovation, will be announced during the 25th anniversary of the American Disabilities Act on July 26.

Co-director of the NYU Ability Lab Anita Perr expressed the need for assistive technology not only for people with disabilities, but also for a larger audience, including children and the elderly.

“We are hoping that the participants in the challenge understand the ideas of universal design so that whatever is developed for this competition will not just be products for people with disabilities, but will have the capacity to be useful and interesting to a much wider audience,” Perr said. “If it works for the groups of people who have the hardest time using it, whether a product or an environment, it will work for just about everyone.”

The challenge also features several personalities with physical or mental disabilities, namely “exemplars,” to guide participants toward addressing the needs of people with specific disabilities.

One of the exemplars is Gus Chalkias, a college student and career counselor from Queens who is blind. Chalkias expressed the need for existing technology to market their technological features that are directed toward people with disabilities.

“As a person with a disability, I know the importance of inclusivity in the creation of technology,” Chalkias said. “With the innovation of smart phones, accessibility and universal design are becoming a fundamental part of the products that we buy as consumers. However, the support available for this technology needs to match the effort that is being put into the development of such technology.”

AT&T representative Neil Giacobbi said there are specific advantages to the challenge taking place in New York, where the company managed to find their exemplars and also cooperate with other organizations such as the MTA.

“The other is to spur a whole new category of tech specifically aimed at improving the lives of people living with disabilities,” Giacobbi said. “We did this with transit apps through our partnership with the MTA on AppQuest, and we believe this challenge will have a similar impact.”

Perr hopes the challenge will raise awareness in the technology industry about the need for more user-friendly technology for people with disabilities.

“In one interview, Xian said she liked being in water because it is easier for her to move there and she can spin,” Perr said. “Through my rose-colored glasses, technology should be able to let her spin if she wants — maybe virtually, maybe not. Who knows? It really is limitless and beyond my imagination.”

Email Dhriti Tandon at [email protected].