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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">The below research participant solicitation is being provided for informational purposes only. The National Federation of the Blind has no involvement in this research, but we
believe that it may contribute to our research mission.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center"><b><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">Invitation to Participate in a Research Study on Accessible VR
</span></b><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif"><w:Sdt SdtTag="goog_rdk_0" id="-1796511600"></w:Sdt><w:Sdt SdtTag="goog_rdk_1" id="-1393885342"></w:Sdt></span><b><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">Musical
Performances<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">Dear Members of the National Federation of the Blind,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">We are a research team at the New Jersey Institute of Technology working on a project titled “Understanding Needs and Challenges in Virtual Reality
(VR) Supported Musical Performance Access for Blind and Low-Vision Users.” We investigate an accessibility of VR space for the blind and low-vision community and an opportunity to leverage it for accessible musical performance experiences. Our aim is to understand
the needs and challenges of the blind and low-vision individuals in accessing VR, particularly for experiencing musical performances and build a system that can enable them to equally enjoy VR mediated
</span><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif"><w:Sdt SdtTag="goog_rdk_2" id="-697619091"></w:Sdt><w:Sdt SdtTag="goog_rdk_3" id="184035548"></w:Sdt></span><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">musical performances.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><a name="_heading=h.gjdgxs"></a><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">Through this study, we hope to learn about your current experiences, in-depth needs, and challenges in accessing VR
space and musical performances (e.g., live concert, theatrical performance, and orchestra play). The results from the study will be used to inform the design and development of a prototype system that can help blind or low-vision individuals to access and
enjoy VR based musical performances in future research.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">We are seeking participants who meet the following criteria:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<ul style="margin-top:0in" type="disc">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="color:black;text-align:justify;mso-list:l1 level1 lfo3">
<span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">18 years old or older.<o:p></o:p></span></li><li class="MsoNormal" style="color:black;text-align:justify;mso-list:l1 level1 lfo3">
<span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">Understand and communicate in English.<o:p></o:p></span></li><li class="MsoNormal" style="color:black;text-align:justify;mso-list:l1 level1 lfo3">
<span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">Blind or low vision individual<o:p></o:p></span></li></ul>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">Participants will be asked to complete an online survey, which we anticipate will take approximately 20 minutes. The study has been approved by the
Institutional Review Board (IRB) at the New Jersey Institute of Technology. If you are interested in participating in our study, please follow this link to the survey:
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif"><a href="https://qfreeaccountssjc1.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_b7uLE1FibEaxO0C">https://qfreeaccountssjc1.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_b7uLE1FibEaxO0C</a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">We greatly appreciate your time and consideration. Your insights could play a crucial role in
</span><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif"><w:Sdt SdtTag="goog_rdk_8" id="1542478521"></w:Sdt><w:Sdt SdtTag="goog_rdk_9" id="-895435303"></w:Sdt></span><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">making VR musical
performances accessible to individuals who are blind or have low vision.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">Should you have any questions or require additional information about this study, please do not hesitate to
</span><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif"><w:Sdt SdtTag="goog_rdk_10" id="50657008"></w:Sdt><w:Sdt SdtTag="goog_rdk_11" id="-1197925176"></w:Sdt></span><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">contact us by email
(Sooyeon Lee: </span><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif"><a href="mailto:sooyeon.lee@njit.edu"><span style="color:#1155CC">sooyeon.lee@njit.edu</span></a></span><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">; Khang
Dang: </span><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif"><a href="mailto:khd3@njit.edu"><span style="color:#1155CC">khd3@njit.edu</span></a></span><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">; Hamdi Korreshi:
</span><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif"><a href="mailto:hk37@njit.edu"><span style="color:#1155CC">hk37@njit.edu</span></a></span><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">).
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">Thank you very much!<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">Sincerely,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">Research team (Sooyeon Lee, Khang Dang, and Hamdi Korreshi)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">New Jersey Institute of Technology<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt">Lou Ann Blake, J.D.</span><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Director of Research Programs, Blindness Initiatives<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt">200 East Wells Street, Baltimore, MD 21230<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt">410-659-9314, extension 2221 |
</span><a href="mailto:lblake@nfb.org"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;color:windowtext">lblake@nfb.org</span></a><span style="font-size:12.0pt">
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1F497D"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://nfb.org/"><span style="color:#0563C1;text-decoration:none"><img border="0" width="210" height="76" style="width:2.1875in;height:.7916in" id="_x0000_i1028" src="https://nfb.org/images/nfb/images/email/2/nfblogo.png" alt="National Federation of the Blind"></span></a><span style="color:#1F497D"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1F497D"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1F497D"> </span>
<a href="http://www.facebook.com/nationalfederationoftheblind"><span style="color:#0563C1;text-decoration:none"><img border="0" width="24" height="24" style="width:.25in;height:.25in" id="_x0000_i1027" src="https://nfb.org/images/nfb/images/email/2/facebook.png" alt="Facebook"></span></a><span style="color:#1F497D"> </span><a href="https://twitter.com/NFB_Voice"><span style="color:#0563C1;text-decoration:none"><img border="0" width="24" height="24" style="width:.25in;height:.25in" id="_x0000_i1026" src="https://nfb.org/images/nfb/images/email/2/twitter.png" alt="Twitter"></span></a><span style="color:#1F497D"> </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/NationsBlind"><span style="color:#0563C1;text-decoration:none"><img border="0" width="24" height="24" style="width:.25in;height:.25in" id="_x0000_i1025" src="https://nfb.org/images/nfb/images/email/2/youtube.png" alt="Youtube"></span></a><span style="color:#1F497D"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1F497D"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt">The National Federation of the Blind is a community of members and friends who believe in the hopes and dreams of the nation’s blind. Every day we work together to help blind people live the lives they want.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
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