ARRAE study: AR improves but also disrupts Deaf student accessibility
How AR rewires attention, labor, and coordination for Deaf students and support staff
In a new study presented at HCII 2026, researchers Roshan Mathew and Roshan Peiris evaluated ARRAE, an augmented reality communication ecosystem designed for Deaf and hard of hearing (DHH) students in hands-on learning environments. They simulated a lab setting with an instructor, an ASL interpreter, and a real-time captioner, comparing traditional in-person access, remote access, and AR-mediated access. The goal was to examine how AR shifts accessibility labor and interaction dynamics from the perspective of the service providers—not just the students.
The findings reveal a double-edged impact. On the positive side, AR centralizes visual communication (sign language and captions) directly in the student’s field of view, reducing the "split attention" problem that plagues experiential learning. However, it also disrupts subtle interactional feedback mechanisms, such as gaze coordination and pacing, which are critical for shared understanding during instruction. The researchers conclude that AR-mediated systems work best as part of a broader hybrid accessibility ecosystem rather than as standalone replacements, because they reconfigure how attention and awareness are distributed among all participants.
- ARRAE centralizes ASL and captions in the student’s direct field of view, reducing split attention during hands-on tasks
- AR altered gaze coordination and pacing between instructors, interpreters, and captioners, affecting shared understanding
- Researchers recommend integrating AR into a hybrid ecosystem rather than using it as a standalone replacement for existing access modalities
Why It Matters
Designing AR accessibility tools must account for the entire support team, not just the end user.