Our Projects
Assistive technology shaped by lived experience
Emaration Outreach & Community Support develops practical tools focused on vision loss, hearing loss, and the experiences of people living with both.
Our first projects are a light-up white cane and a real-time transcript app. Both are in development, and both will be shaped by feedback from the people most affected by the problems they address.
Light-up white cane
A white cane designed to be seen
Status: Early development
The light-up white cane began after a driver nearly hit Jordan on a dark Portland street and said they had not seen him—even though he was carrying his white cane.
The concept adds optional lighting to a familiar white cane so drivers, cyclists, and other pedestrians can more easily see the person using it after dark.
The cane must remain lightweight, dependable, and fully usable when the lighting is turned off or the battery is empty. The person using it controls when the light is visible.
We plan to begin with a small pilot focused on quality, safety, and user feedback before considering a larger release.
The cane still has to work like a cane. The technology should make it safer without making it harder to use. — Jordan Remington Williams
Real-time transcript app
A transcript app designed around real conversations
Status: Concept and community-feedback stage
We are also developing a real-time transcript app specifically with deaf and hard-of-hearing people in mind.
The app will turn spoken conversations into clear, readable text and give users control over text size, contrast, display preferences, privacy, and when transcription begins or ends.
The goal is to make conversations easier to follow at work, during appointments, in meetings, at restaurants, and in everyday life.
Areas being explored
None of these features is promised yet — they are areas being explored with the community:
- Real-time speech-to-text
- Adjustable text size
- White-on-black and other high-contrast displays
- Speaker identification
- Simple start and stop controls
- User-controlled conversation history
- Clear deletion controls
- Optional vibration or visual alerts
- A simple mode for face-to-face conversations
- A meeting or group-conversation mode
- Privacy explanations written in plain language
The app is another communication option controlled by the user. It is not a replacement for sign language, interpreters, professional captioners, hearing technology, written communication, or any other accommodation. Deaf and hard-of-hearing people do not all communicate in the same way.
Private conversations should remain under the user's control
Privacy will be part of the transcript app's design from the beginning. Users should have clear control over when transcription starts, whether conversations are saved, and when information is deleted.
As development continues, Emaration will clearly explain how speech and transcript data are processed and what information, if any, is retained.
I want something that helps me follow the conversation without making me fight with the app. — Jordan Remington Williams
Design principles
How we approach the work
User control
The person using the technology decides when it is active, how it behaves, and which settings work best for them.
Familiar first
New technology should not make a familiar tool harder to use. The white cane must remain a dependable white cane, with or without power.
Accessibility from the beginning
Accessibility should guide the design before a product is built—not be added after problems are discovered.
Reliability over novelty
A small number of dependable features is more valuable than a long list of features that do not work consistently.
Privacy
People should understand what information is processed, what is stored, and how to delete it.
Community feedback
The people affected by the problem should help shape and evaluate the solution.
How the work is funded
A mission built into the company
Emaration has committed 10% of its net profit to Outreach & Community Support. As the commercial company grows, its ability to support assistive technology and community partnerships can grow with it.
How the community can participate
Follow a project, share a mobility or communication barrier, join future user testing, or partner with us. Feedback from blind, low-vision, deaf, and hard-of-hearing people shapes what gets built.
How decisions are made
Lived experience leads the decisions
Jordan helps decide:
- Which accessibility problems Emaration addresses
- What features matter most
- How disability is represented
- How community feedback is collected
- Whether a project remains practical and understandable
- Who should be involved in testing
- What gets developed first
We should ask people what they need before deciding what to build for them. — Jordan Remington Williams
Where things stand
Current development status
- Light-up white cane — Status: Early development
- Transcript app — Status: Concept and community-feedback stage
As each project moves forward, its label will move through these stages:
- Research
- Design
- Prototype
- User testing
- Pilot
- Available
Saying what's real
What is not available yet
Neither project is available yet. Both the light-up white cane and the transcript app are in development.
We will report clearly on what has been funded, what has been completed, what remains in development, and when plans change.
Who the work is for
Our initial work focuses on blind and low-vision people, deaf and hard-of-hearing people, and people living with combined vision and hearing loss.
We also hope to collaborate with disability organizations, rehabilitation professionals, educators, families, veterans' programs, medical providers, and other community partners.
We hope to work with the Oregon Commission for the Blind and other organizations serving blind and low-vision Oregonians as the project develops.
Emaration Outreach & Community Support is Emaration's community-focused assistive-technology initiative.