Dr Rico Chan's Story

Dr Rico Chan
PhD Graduate (2017) from the School of Design

Rico Chan is the founder and CEO of Beyond Vision Projects (BVP).  He is also a social designer who explores the relationships between people, technology and the visual environment.  In 2016, Rico founded Beyond Vision Projects (BVP), a Hong Kong and San Francisco based social enterprise that aims to enhance the quality of life for the visually impaired by focusing on education, social inclusiveness, equal accessibility and employment opportunities.

Rico and his team invented the Tactile-Audio Interaction System (TAIS), a multisensory interactive platform for the visually impaired to "SEE" and experience art through the synchronization of touch and sound. The Tactile Visual Vocabulary System (TVVS), another invention from the team was also launched successfully at the Blind School in Hong Kong.  It is an assistive educational learning system that helps visually impaired students overcome barriers in learning the visual information in textbooks and our living environment. Tactile Colour System (TCS), a groundbreaking invention to stimulate the colour perceptions of visually impaired was well received when launched in late 2019.

Within four years since it started, BVP has been awarded more than HKD6.5 millions of funding supported by private family foundations, the Hong Kong Polytechnic University and the Hong Kong government. In 2017, BVP was named one of the "Top 60 Social Enterprises to Watch in Asia".  Rico has also curated multiple exhibitions in Hong Kong and overseas. He has collaborated with Leonardo3 Museum (L3) in Italy, Another Way of Seeing in Seoul, Asian Art Museum in San Francisco and more. In 2019, Rico was invited by the Seoul Mayor office as a keynote speaker alongside renowned professors and practitioners from around the world to share his expertise at the "Museum Inclusivity for the Visually Impaired Visitor" conference.

Rico believes that art and culture inspire us, bring us together, and teach us about who we are and the world we live in, despite differences in age, gender, race or physical impairments – in short, that art and culture are for all, everyone deserves to see!