# Empath-D: VR-based Empathetic App Design for Accessibility

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2503.12933 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2503.12933/

## Key facts

- Cited by 1 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- First posted on arXiv 17 Mar 2025.

## Built on by (most cited first, 1 of 1)

- [Not There Yet: Evaluating Vision Language Models in Simulating the Visual Perception of People with Low Vision](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2508.10972/) (2025)

## Abstract (arXiv)

With app-based interaction increasingly permeating all aspects of daily living, it is essential to ensure that apps are designed to be inclusive and are usable by a wider audience such as the elderly, with various impairments (e.g., visual, audio and motor). We propose names, a system that fosters empathetic design, by allowing app designers, in-situ, to rapidly evaluate the usability of their apps, from the perspective of impaired users. To provide a truly authentic experience, name carefully orchestrates the interaction between a smartphone and a VR device, allowing the user to experience simulated impairments in a virtual world while interacting naturally with the app, using a real smartphone. By carefully orchestrating the VR-smartphone interaction, name tackles challenges such as preserving low-latency app interaction, accurate visualization of hand movement and low-overhead perturbation of I/O streams. Experimental results show that user interaction with name is comparable (both in accuracy and user perception) to real-world app usage, and that it can simulate impairment effects as effectively as a custom hardware simulator.