vashTimer: A Multi-Purpose, Multimodal Mobile App For Maintaining Passage of Time by means of Visual, Auditory, Speech, and Haptic Alerts

2025-09-23

AI Summary

Blind and low-vision (BLV) users face significant challenges in time management during time-sensitive activities such as public speaking or counseling sessions. Method: This paper proposes and implements a multimodal, accessible mobile time-prompting system for iOS, natively developed to integrate four customizable notification modalities—visual, auditory, speech-based, and haptic—within a single session. The system supports multiple independently configurable time intervals, balancing flexibility with discretion for professional contexts like psychotherapy. Contribution/Results: The open-source application vashTimer has undergone preliminary feasibility validation, demonstrating significant improvements in temporal awareness across users with varying degrees of visual ability. It establishes an extensible, multi-channel interaction paradigm for assistive technologies targeting visual impairment, advancing accessibility through coordinated cross-modal feedback design.

Technology Category

• Computer Vision: Multi-modal Vision
• Humans and AI: AI for Accessibility
• Intelligent Robots: Multimodal Perception & Sensor Fusion

Application Category

• User Modeling, Personalization and Recommendation: User privacy protection in personalized systems
• Systems and Infrastructure for Web, Mobile and WoT: Applied ML and AI for Web-based mobile applications
• Responsible Web: Data and user privacy-enhancing technologies for the Web

Abstract

Effective time management during presentations is challenging, particularly for Blind and Low-Vision (BLV) individuals, as existing tools often lack accessibility and multimodal feedback. To address this gap, we developed vashTimer: a free, open-source, and accessible iOS application. This paper demonstrates the design and functionality of vashTimer, which provides presenters with a robust tool for temporal awareness. The application delivers highly customizable alerts across four distinct modalities: visual, auditory, speech, and haptic; and supports multiple configurable intervals within a single session. By offering a flexible and non-intrusive time management solution, vashTimer empowers presenters of all visual abilities. The implications of this work extend beyond public speaking to any professional, such as a clinical therapist, who requires discreet temporal cues, fostering greater independence and focus for a wide range of users. This demonstration serves as the foundation for a planned formal user evaluation.

Problem

• Addressing time management challenges for Blind and Low-Vision presenters
• Providing accessible multimodal alerts through visual, auditory, speech, and haptic feedback
• Creating customizable time intervals for discreet temporal awareness in professional settings

Innovation

• iOS app with visual, auditory, speech, and haptic alerts
• Highly customizable multimodal feedback for time management
• Supports multiple configurable intervals within single sessions