Spatial Perception and Situational Awareness as Transcendental Design Paradigms (or how to get out of your head)

Dr. Kyle Keane is a blind multidisciplinary researcher at the intersection of artificial intelligence, human perception, and inclusive design. Currently Senior Lecturer in Assistive Technology in the School of Computer Science at the University of Bristol, Kyle draws from over a decade of teaching and program development experience at MIT to explore multisensory interaction and engagement with complex information. Dr. Keane’s technical contributions include developing neural network systems for automatic production of audio-tactile graphics optimized for human perceptual interpretability, with publications spanning cognitive science, quantum physics, perception science, and assistive technology engineering.  Dr. Keane coordinates global assistive technology initiatives that fundamentally restructure how technologies are developed with and for disabled communities, centering self-determination and knowledge sovereignty for disabled communities

Dr Keane is a founding member of an international co-design network linking the Cambodian Academy of Digital Technologies, Penn State University, MIT, and the University of Bristol, where the experiences and priority needs of refugees and conflict-displaced people with disabilities directly inform collaborative prototyping and development cycles. This approach explicitly rejects extractive research methodologies, instead ensuring that communities with disabilities retain ownership of both problem identification and solution development. Through an inclusive model of assistive technology innovation, this reciprocal exchange of knowledge and value ensures that engineering solutions are driven by user needs, aligned with local expertise, and informed by lived experiences.

In this talk, Dr. Keane will explore the intricacies of human spatial perception, focusing on auditory and haptic localization through innovative multi-speaker arrays and multi-channel haptic systems. He will also discuss his efforts in building a global network of makerspaces and hackathons that promote assistive technology through community-led, sustainable innovation. This lecture will highlight how understanding and designing for ‘the world at a distance’ can transform our interactions with our environments, each other, and ourselves.