
Assistive Technology Rehabilitation Research
At NYU Langone’s Rusk Rehabilitation, John-Ross (J.R.) Rizzo, MD, MSCI, leads the Rehabilitation Engineering Alliance and Center Transforming Low Vision (REACTIV) laboratory, where his research focuses on assistive technology designed to help people who are visually impaired.
The REACTIV laboratory serves people who are legally blind or have low vision and civil servants who transiently have their visual system incapacitated, such as military personnel conducting night operatives, firefighters who have to navigate through smoke-filled buildings, and police officers who are left vulnerable in low-light conditions.
Our team focuses on advanced wearables for the sensory deprived (permanent or transient) and benefits from Dr. Rizzo’s own personal experiences with vision loss. The laboratory’s central hypothesis is that wearables support spatial cognition in visually impaired populations, augmenting personal freedom and agency, and promoting health and wellbeing. Our long-term goal is to develop wearables with a suite of tailorable, forward compatible microservices that enable functional independence for the visually impaired.
People who are visually impaired face mobility restrictions because of inaccessible environments. Even in structured settings, people with low vision may still have trouble navigating efficiently and safely because of hallway and threshold ambiguity. Dr. Rizzo and his team are working to take assistive technology to the next level.
Recent Publications
Disparities in Breast Cancer Patients with Disabilities: Care Gaps, Accessibility, and Best Practices
Journal of the National Cancer Institute. 2023 Oct 09; 115:1139-1144
Methodological Issues Relevant to Blinding in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Research
American journal of physical medicine & rehabilitation. 2023 Jul 01; 102:636-644
Virtual reality as a means to explore assistive technologies for the visually impaired
PLOS digital health. 2023 Jun ; 2:e0000275
The BLV App Arcade: a new curated repository and evaluation rubric for mobile applications supporting blindness and low vision
Disability & rehabilitation. Assistive technology. 2023 Mar 16; 1-10
A Smart Service System for Spatial Intelligence and Onboard Navigation for Individuals with Visual Impairment (VIS4ION Thailand): study protocol of a randomized controlled trial of visually impaired students at the Ratchasuda College, Thailand
Trials. 2023 Mar 07; 24:169
Enhanced cognitive interference during visuomotor tasks may cause eye-hand dyscoordination
Experimental brain research. 2023 Feb ; 241:547-558
Commute Booster: A Mobile Application for First/Last Mile and Middle Mile Navigation Support for People with Blindness and Low Vision
IEEE journal of translational engineering in health & medicine. 2023 Jan 01; ?-?
Art therapy as a comprehensive complementary treatment for Parkinson's disease
Frontiers in human neuroscience. 2023 ; 17:1110531