Transforming research ideas into meaningful impact is no small feat. It often requires the knowledge and experience of individuals from across disciplines and institutions. Collaborators, a Microsoft Research Podcast series, explores the relationships—both expected and unexpected—behind the projects, products, and services being pursued and delivered by researchers at Microsoft and the diverse range of people they’re teaming up with.

In this episode, Dr. Gretchen Huizinga speaks with Cecily Morrison, MBE, a Senior Principal Research Manager at Microsoft Research, and Karolina Pakėnaitė, who also goes by Caroline, a PhD student and member of the citizen design team working with Morrison on the research project Find My Things. An AI phone application designed to help people who are blind or have low vision locate their personal items, Find My Things is an example of a broader research approach known as Teachable AI. Morrison and Pakėnaitė explore the Teachable AI goal of empowering people to make an AI experience work for them. They also discuss how “designing for one” when it comes to inclusive design leads to innovative solutions and what they learned about optimizing these types of systems for real-world use (spoiler: it’s not necessarily more or higher-quality data).

Learn more:

• Teachable AI Experiences (Tai X) | Project page
• Understanding Personalized Accessibility through Teachable AI: Designing and Evaluating Find My Things for People who are Blind or Low Vision | Publication, October 2023
• Microsoft Inclusive Design | Inclusive design resource center
• DeafBlind Everest Project | Karolina (Caroline) Pakėnaitė personal website