On November 6, 2026, the article “Not Searching, But Finding” by Oliver Bendel and Damian Huckele was published in Wiley Industry News. It presents the WhereIsIt project, which was conducted at the FHNW School of Business from March to August 2026. As part of a bachelor’s thesis, a voice-based assistant was developed to help blind and visually impaired people locate misplaced objects. Users can, for example, tell the system where they have placed their keys and later retrieve the stored location through a voice query. The application uses artificial intelligence (AI) for speech processing and operates entirely locally, eliminating the need to transmit personal data to external services. In initial tests involving twelve participants, 84.4 percent of the tasks were completed successfully, although some assistance was required. The results demonstrate the potential of the approach while also highlighting the need for further improvements, particularly in speech recognition, accessibility, and reliability. Real-world testing with blind users has yet to be conducted. The article places WhereIsIt within the research field of Inclusive AI and discusses not only the technical possibilities but also issues related to information ethics and data privacy. The article is available at wileyindustrynews.com/en/contributions/not-searching-but-finding.
BY OLIVER BENDEL
