Accessibility XR / VR Human-Centered Design Research + Prototyping

I design accessible immersive experiences and build prototypes that ship.

I’m a Computer Science PhD candidate at the University of Rhode Island (ASSET Lab), working on accessibility and immersive technology. My research focuses on making VR usable and empowering for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD), and translating insights into practical design guidance and deployed applications. I have the privilege of being guided by Prof. Krishna Venkatasubramanian and also been lucky to collaborate with Dr. Tina-Marie Ranalli

View Resume See Publications Contact Connect

What I bring

Research rigor + product thinking + systems engineering

Research impact

Published in top HCI and accessibility venues (CHI, DIS, TACCESS) and ACM flagship magazine (CACM), translating findings into practical guidance.

Strength: qualitative methods, thematic analysis, co-design, accessibility evaluation

Shipped applications

Co-designed and developed mobile apps supporting safety and self-care for adults with I/DD—released on major app stores.

Strength: end-to-end prototyping → deployment

Engineering leadership

Former Associate Tech Lead in fintech—built microservices and DevOps pipelines; improved API performance by ~40% via profiling and caching.

Strength: Java/Spring, Docker/Kubernetes, CI/CD

Projects

Detailed look at shipped applications and research tools

R3: Recognize, Report, Respond

Shipped App Flutter Accessibility

R3 is a groundbreaking app designed for and with adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD) to help them learn to recognize, report, and respond to abuse. Through audio, visual, and narrated content, users learn about the five types of abuse. The app features videos, quizzes, and interactive activities specifically designed for cognitive accessibility.

Designed by the ASSET Lab at URI for the Massachusetts Disabled Persons Protection Commission (DPPC), R3 is based on the "Awareness and Action" curriculum. It includes a "Feelings check-in" and a quick-exit home button to ensure user safety and comfort.

App Store

S2: Self-care for Survivors

Shipped App Trauma-Informed Flutter

The companion to R3, S2 is a self-care app supporting survivors of abuse, particularly those with I/DD. It emulates the practices of Peer Support Leaders—individuals with I/DD who empower survivors in the community.

S2 features engaging avatar sidekicks like "Patty Q" to offer encouragement during self-care activities. It was developed in close collaboration with the MA DPPC and direct input from individuals with disabilities to ensure it is soothing, supportive, and accessible.

App Store Google Play

App Review Analyzer

AI Tool React/Next.js NLP

An AI-powered intelligence tool that unlocks actionable insights from user feedback. By analyzing reviews from Google Play or the App Store, it automatically identifies sentiment, key pain points, and emerging trends.

Features a modern dark-mode interface with real-time sentiment tracking, helping developers and product managers make data-driven decisions to improve their applications.

Live Demo

Claroma: VR Anatomy Learning

VR / WebXR Gemini AI Hackathon Winner

A Virtual Reality application that simplifies learning complex human anatomy. Built with WebXR, it allows users to interact with detailed 3D models of the skeleton, muscles, and heart using Oculus controllers.

Integrated with the Gemini Vision API, Claroma lets users point to astronomical regions to receive instant, descriptive explanations, transforming 2D textbook memorization into an immersive, intuitive 3D experience.

GitHub

Participant recruitment

Help us build better accessibility guidelines for VR

Join our VR accessibility study

Researchers from the ASSET research group at the University of Rhode Island are conducting a study to develop guidelines for accessible VR apps for adults with intellectual or developmental disabilities (I/DD).

18+ years old Adult with I/DD Compensation provided

Email: asset.uri@proton.me See related work

If you’re a caregiver/supporter and want to learn more, email us—happy to share details and eligibility criteria.

Updates

Recent milestones and announcements

Nov 2025

Winner, Hack@URI Mini HackDay - Google Gemini • Developed a VR application for interactive learning of human anatomy
Jul 2025

Presented “Understanding the Accessibility of Single-User Virtual Reality Environments for Adults with I/DD” at ACM DIS 2025 (Madeira, Portugal).
Apr 2025

Presented a poster at the Third Annual International Graduate Student Showcase at URI.
Apr 2025

Paper accepted at ACM DIS 2025.
Aug 2024

Awarded an NSF Human-Centered Computing (HCC) grant to design VR-mediated technologies supporting post-trauma self-regulation for adults with I/DD.
Dec 2023

R3 app featured in The Boston Globe.
Apr 2023

CHI 2023 paper received Honorable Mention (Top 5%).

Publications

Selected peer-reviewed work (with quick links)

2025

Understanding the Accessibility of Single-User Virtual Reality Environments for Adults with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities

ACM Designing Interactive Systems (DIS) 2025 • Kirupaharan, Ranalli, Venkatasubramanian

Paper BibTeX

@inproceedings{kirupaharan2025dis,
  title={Understanding the Accessibility of Single-User Virtual Reality Environments for Adults with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities},
  author={Kirupaharan, Priyankan and Ranalli, Tina-Marie and Venkatasubramanian, Krishna},
  booktitle={Proceedings of the 2025 ACM Designing Interactive Systems Conference (DIS '25)},
  year={2025}
}

2024

A3C: An Image-Association-Based Computing Device Authentication Framework for People with Upper Extremity Impairments

ACM Transactions on Accessible Computing (TACCESS) 2024 • Lewis, Kirupaharan, Ranalli, Venkatasubramanian

Paper BibTeX

@article{lewis2024a3c,
  title={A3C: An Image-Association-Based Computing Device Authentication Framework for People with Upper Extremity Impairments},
  author={Lewis, Brittany and Kirupaharan, Priyankan and Ranalli, Tina-Marie and Venkatasubramanian, Krishna},
  journal={ACM Transactions on Accessible Computing (TACCESS)},
  year={2024}
}

2024

Considering Trauma in Accessible Design for Adults with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities

Communications of the ACM (CACM) 2024 • Venkatasubramanian, Ranalli, Kirupaharan, Cannon

Link BibTeX

@article{venkatasubramanian2024trauma,
  title={Considering Trauma in Accessible Design for Adults with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities},
  author={Venkatasubramanian, Krishna and Ranalli, Tina-Marie and Kirupaharan, Priyankan and Cannon, L.},
  journal={Communications of the ACM},
  year={2024}
}

2024

Understanding the Challenges Nurses Encounter with Monitoring Technologies in a NICU,'' International Journal of Human-Computer Interaction

International Journal of Human Computer Interaction (IJHCI) • Venkatasubramanian, Ranalli, Kirupaharan, Solanki, Mankodiya

Link BibTeX

@article{Venkatasubramanian01122024,
author = {Krishna Venkatasubramanian and Tina-Marie Ranalli and Priyankan Kirupaharan and Dhaval Solanki and Kunal Mankodiya},
title = {Understanding the Challenges Nurses Encounter with Monitoring Technologies in a NICU},
journal = {International Journal of Human–Computer Interaction},
volume = {40},
number = {23},
pages = {8142--8165},
year = {2024},
publisher = {Taylor \& Francis},
doi = {10.1080/10447318.2023.2278297},
URL = { 
        https://doi.org/10.1080/10447318.2023.2278297
},
eprint = { 
        https://doi.org/10.1080/10447318.2023.2278297
}
}

2023

'I... caught a person casing my house... and scared him off.': The Use of Security-focused Smart Home Devices by People with Disabilities (Honorable Mention)

ACM CHI 2023 • Lewis, Ranalli, Gourley, Kirupaharan, Venkatasubramanian

Paper BibTeX

@inproceedings{lewis2023smarthome,
  title={The Use of Security-focused Smart Home Devices by People with Disabilities},
  author={Lewis, Brittany and Ranalli, Tina-Marie and Gourley, A. and Kirupaharan, Priyankan and Venkatasubramanian, Krishna},
  booktitle={Proceedings of the 2023 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems},
  year={2023},
  note={Honorable Mention (Top 5%)}
}

2021

Mobile Application to Identify Fish Species Using YOLO and Convolutional Neural Networks

SLAAI AI Conference • Kirupaharan, Fernando

Paper