The paper “Designing and Evaluating a VR Boxing Experience with Blind People“, co-authored by LASIGE researchers Diogo Furtado, Renato Alexandre Ribeiro, Manuel Piçarra, Letícia Seixas Pereira, Carlos Duarte, André Rodrigues, and João Guerreiro, which was presented at the ACM CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI 2025), the flagship venue in HCI, has been catching the attention of the Portuguese media.

João Guerreiro, LASIGE integrated member and the Principal Investigator of the AccessVR project, was invited, on 23 January 2026, to the “Isto faz-se por cá” (this is done here) podcast by RDP Internacional, which highlights innovative projects in Portugal.

The researcher presented the research process and results, highlighting the relevance of user contributions (professional boxers and the general public) and stating that the prototype is robust and that a demo version will soon be available on the website. Download the application, obtain the necessary accessories (headset and hand controllers), and try it out!

In the future, Guerreiro intends to explore more complex solutions, include more stimuli, and ensure that the experience remains enjoyable. Who knows, perhaps we will move on to table tennis, creating a joint, fair, and pleasant experience for blind and sighted players alike?

The podcast is available (in Portuguese): here.