Congratulations to Markus Wieland, Kathrin Schnizer, Francesco Chiossi, Nina Doerr, Florian Lang, Thomas Kosch, and Michael Sedlmair! At the Augmented Humans (AHs) International Conference 2026, they won a Best Paper Honorable Mention Award. In their paper “Making Eye Contact Accessible: Augmenting Gaze in Job Interviews for People with Visual Impairments”, they investigate how the disadvantages that people with visual impairments face in job interviews due to nonverbal communication could be mitigated by introducing several types of gaze cues in virtual reality. The conference was held in Okinawa, Japan, from March 16–19, 2026.
Abstract
Job interviews rely heavily on nonverbal communication, with gaze serving as a central signal of attentiveness and competence. For people with visual impairments, this creates an asymmetry that disadvantages them: they are expected to demonstrate eye contact but cannot access or reciprocate the gaze cues that structure interaction. To investigate these challenges in a high-stakes context, we conducted interviews with eight people with visual impairments, revealing how inaccessible gaze produces uncertainty, social pressure, and reliance on compensatory strategies. Based on these insights, we designed three visual cues, EYES, HALO, and FRAME, and evaluated them in a simulated job interview in virtual reality with 12 people with visual impairments. Our fndings show that spatially anchored cues around the interviewer’s face supported head alignment and improved perception of attentional focus, while peripheral cues were distracting. The study highlights the need for gaze cues that strike a balance between perceptual accessibility and social appropriateness in professional settings.