20. TrooRa The Inclusivity Issue Autumn 2023

A Touch of Independence

CyR.U.S. System’s Visionary Leap Toward Universal Accessibility

F or most of us, having good eyesight is something we take for granted. But for over 2.2 billion people worldwide with some degree of vision loss, even the simplest tasks can be challenging. In fact, most of us will experience vision loss in some form or another in our lifetime. Enter Victoria Watts and the CyR.U.S.™ system. It is the world’s first and only modern tactile language designed to help the visually impaired. It makes products across skincare, personal care, home care, and several other categories easy to identify and use safely. Victoria is also introducing Touch Tags™ by CyR.U.S.—a 3D-printed sheet that sticks to your favorite products for accessibility for the visually impaired.

THE INSPIRATION BEHIND VICTORIA’S INNOVATION Victoria Watts is the creator of the revolutionary CyR.U.S. system. About six years ago, shortly after launching her skincare brand, VictoriaLand Beauty, Victoria gave birth to her fourth son, Cyrus. She learned that Cyrus was born blind due to a rare hereditary disorder affecting the retina. Watching her son grow up and explore the world without sight, Victoria recognized the beauty of the way Cyrus made sense of his surroundings. Along with it came the realization of a new set of challenges for him to tackle in this world built by and for the sighted. Victoria recounts that while giving

research. Taking these learnings, she designed and tested dozens of prototypes with actual users. Thanks to the testing, Victoria concluded that the potential of this tactile system is in a universal application, spanning various industries. She found the combination of a raised QR code and tactile marking to be the best implementation for products. It made them identifiable by touch, with the product details accessible through the audio descriptions initiated by QR codes. She named this tactile solution the CyR.U.S. system after her son, Cyrus. It is also an anagram for ‘Raised Universal Symbols.’ The system is a comprehensive library of easy-to- learn, raised, universal symbols and embossed QR codes initiating audio descriptions.

Cyrus a bath one evening, it struck her that without help, it would be difficult for him to differentiate between the products he needed to use. “It was terrifying for me to realize he wouldn’t even be able to take a shower by himself without help if nothing changed,” shared Victoria. This led her to reflect upon the fact that the low-vision community isn’t being considered when designing products. None of the products had any tactile markings. A few companies used Braille on their packaging, but it wasn’t a great solution, and the similar product profiles made it more difficult for product identification. Victoria defined these challenges and set out to overcome them. Over the next two years, Victoria worked closely with focus groups, conducting interviews and extensive user-centered

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