Jon E. Froehlich

Associate Professor, CS
University of Washington

I am an Associate Professor in the Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science and Engineering at the University of Washington, a Sloan Fellow, and NSF CAREER awardee. My research is in Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) with a focus on high-value social domains such as accessibility, environmental sustainability, and STEM education. I have published over 50 peer-reviewed publications; eleven have been honored with awards, including Best Papers at ACM CHI and ASSETS and a 10-Year Impact Award at UbiComp. Since becoming a professor in 2012, I have taught ~250 undergraduate students and ~150 graduate students in HCI, Design, and UbiComp courses and served as a research advisor to nine graduate students, 50+ undergraduates, and 15 high school students. From 2012-2017, I was an Assistant Professor in Computer Science at the University of Maryland.

Recent News

PrototypAR is Now On the NSF Video Showcase

May 13, 2019 | Jon

Today, our video on PrototypAR entitled "PrototypAR: Learning through AR Design and Experimentation" just launched on the NSF video showcase. Please check it out and explore the site for more inspirational "Innovations in STEM Education" videos.

Ather Sharif Gives Invited Keynote Address

Apr 25, 2019 | Jon

Makeability Lab member Ather Sharif gives the Keynote Address at the 2019 Evergreen International Conference in Pennsylvania (link). The Evergreen Project develops an open source ILS (integrated library system) used by more than 2,000 libraries around the world. They recognized Ather for his work to improve web accessibility through his startup EvoXLabs.

UW News Covers Project Sidewalk

Apr 18, 2019 | Jon

In recognition of our Best Paper Award at CHI'19 and to help highlight our new deployments in Seattle, WA and Newberg, OR, Project Sidewalk was featured on the College of Engineering webpage and UW News.

Aileen Zeng Presents at Women's Research Day

Apr 17, 2019 | Jon

Our rock star ugrad researcher, Aileen Zeng, presented a poster on our successful Washington DC deployment of Project Sidewalk at the Allen School's Women’s Research Day.

It's exciting times for crowdsourcing sidewalk accessibility, we just deployed into two more cities--both in the Pacific Northwest: Newberg, OR and Seattle, WA.

High Schoolers Visit the Makeability Lab

Mar 26, 2019 | Jon

The Makeability Lab and the UbiComp Lab hosted students from Northwest High School. The high school students were all taking an Internet of Things (IoT course), which focuses not just on building IoT technology but the societal implications. For example, students are asked to consider: How can this technology help us achieve a more just and equitable world? How will we be able to ensure that these devices improve our quality of life without imprisoning us? What ethics or code of conduct should guide the IoT?

Venkatesh spoke about his research supporting blind programmers, Manaswi spoke about Project Sidewalk and urban accessibility visualizations, and Dhruv spoke about his work on sound awareness tools for people who are deaf or hard of hearing.

Projects

Project Sidewalk

AccessScore

Accessibility-Infused Maps

MakerWear

BodyVis

HandSight

Social Fabric Fitness

I Like This Shirt

Pervasive Thermography

SqueezaPulse

HydroSense

Touchscreen Accessibility

Ondulé

Publications

PrototypAR: Prototyping and Simulating Complex Systems with Paper Craft and Augmented Reality

Seokbin Kang, Leyla Norooz, Elizabeth Bonsignore, Virginia Byrne, Tamara L. Clegg, Jon E. Froehlich

Proceedings of IDC 2019 To Appear

keywords: stem, construction kits, augmented reality, prototyping tool

PDF | Citation | PrototypAR

Social Tensions with Head-Mounted Displays for Accessibility

Steven Goodman, Dhruv Jain, Jon E. Froehlich, Brock Craft, Leah Findlater

Extended Abstract CHI'19 Workshop Proceedings of SHMD '19

keywords: accessibility, head-mounted display, social perception

PDF | Citation | AR Captioning | GlassEar

Exploring Sound Awareness in the Home for People who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing

Dhruv Jain, Angela Carey Lin, Marcus Amalachandran, Aileen Zeng, Jon E. Froehlich

Proceedings of CHI 2019 | Acceptance Rate: 23.7% (701 / 2960)

keywords: smarthome, iot, sound awareness, sound visualization, deaf and hard of hearing

PDF | Citation | Smarthome Sound Awareness

Anchored Audio Sampling: A Seamless Method for Exploring Children's Thoughts During Deployment Studies

Alexis Hiniker, Jon E. Froehlich, Mingrui Zhang, Erin Beneteau

Proceedings of CHI 2019 | Acceptance Rate: 23.8% (705 / 2960)

keywords: experience sampling method, children, context-aware experience sampling

PDF | Citation | Anchored Audio Sampling

Thermporal: An Easy-to-Deploy Temporal Thermographic Sensor System to Support Residential Energy Audits

Matthew L Mauriello, Brenna McNally, Jon E. Froehlich

Proceedings of CHI 2019 | Acceptance Rate: 23.8% (705 / 2960)

keywords: thermography, sensing, thermal cameras, field deployments

PDF | Citation | Pervasive Thermography

Project Sidewalk: A Web-based Crowdsourcing Tool for Collecting Sidewalk Accessibility Data at Scale

Manaswi Saha, Mikey Saugstad, Teja Maddali, Aileen Zeng, Ryan Holland, Steven Bower, Aditya Dash, Sage Chen, Anthony Li, Kotaro Hara, Jon E. Froehlich

Proceedings of CHI 2019 | Acceptance Rate: 23.8% (705 / 2960)

keywords: mobility impairments, gis, wheelchair, crowdsourcing, urban accessibility

PDF | Citation | Project Sidewalk

Deaf and Hard-of-hearing Individuals’ Preferences for Wearable and Mobile Sound Awareness Technologies

Leah Findlater, Bonnie Chinh, Dhruv Jain, Jon E. Froehlich, Raja Kushalnagar, Angela Carey Lin

Proceedings of CHI 2019 | Acceptance Rate: 23.8% (705 / 2960)

keywords: head-mounted display, sound visualization, sound awareness, deaf and hard of hearing, smartwatch, smartphone

PDF | Citation

Grand challenges in accessible maps

Jon E. Froehlich, Anke Brock, Anat Caspi, Joao Guerreiro, Kotaro Hara, Reuben Kirkham, Johannes Schoning, Benjamin Tannert

Interactions

keywords: accessibility, mobility impairments, gis, accessible urban navigation, accessible cities, visual impairments, accessibility map visualizations

PDF | doi | Citation | Project Sidewalk | Accessibility-Infused Maps

Design of an Augmented Reality Magnification Aid for Low Vision Users

Lee Stearns, Leah Findlater, Jon E. Froehlich

Proceedings of ASSETS 2018

keywords: wearables, head-mounted display, low-vision, visual impairments, assistive technology, augmented reality

PDF | Talk | Citation | HandSight | AR Magnification

A Feasibility Study of Using Google Street View and Computer Vision to Track the Evolution of Urban Accessibility

Ladan Najafizadeh, Jon E. Froehlich

Extended Abstract Proceedings of ASSETS 2018

keywords: computer vision, google street view, urban informatics, urban data mining, urban accessibility

PDF | Citation | Project Sidewalk | Urban Accessibility Evolution

Applying Transfer Learning to Recognize Clothing Patterns Using a Finger-Mounted Camera

Lee Stearns, Leah Findlater, Jon E. Froehlich

Extended Abstract Proceedings of ASSETS 2018 | Acceptance Rate: 58.3% (42 / 72)

keywords: wearables, computer vision, visual impairments, pattern recognition, transfer learning

PDF | doi | Citation | HandSight | Cloth Recognition

Interactively Modeling and Visualizing Neighborhood Accessibility at Scale: An Initial Study of Washington DC

Anthony Li, Manaswi Saha, Anupam Gupta, Jon E. Froehlich

Extended Abstract Proceedings of ASSETS 2018

keywords: urban informatics, information visualization, urban data mining, urban accessibility, geo-visualization, walkability index

PDF | Citation | Project Sidewalk | AccessScore | Accessibility-Infused Maps

Towards Accessible Conversations in a Mobile Context for People who are Deaf and Hard of Hearing

Dhruv Jain, Rachel Franz, Leah Findlater, Jackson Cannon, Raja Kushalnagar, Jon E. Froehlich

Proceedings of ASSETS 2018 | Acceptance Rate: 25.9% (28 / 108)

keywords: augmented reality, real-time captioning, deaf and hard of hearing

PDF | doi | Talk | Citation | AR Captioning

A Large-Scale Analysis of YouTube Videos Depicting Everyday Thermal Camera Use

Matthew L Mauriello, Brenna McNally, Cody Buntain, Sapna Bagalkotkar, Samuel Kushnir, Jon E. Froehlich

Proceedings of MobileHCI2018

keywords: thermography, sustainable hci, environmental sustainability, thermal cameras, youtube, user-generated content

PDF | doi | Talk | Citation | Pervasive Thermography

Physiological Investigations with Live Physiological Sensing and Visualization Tools

Tamara L. Clegg, Virginia Byrne, Leyla Norooz, Seokbin Kang, Jon E. Froehlich

Extended Abstract Symposium Proceedings of ICLS2018

keywords: sharedphys, bodyvis, physiological sensing, large-screen displays, mixed-reality, scientific inquiry, collaborative learning, stem, wearables

PDF | doi | Citation | BodyVis | SharedPhys

Scaffolding Authentic Wearable-Based Scientific Inquiry for Early Elementary Learners

Virginia Byrne, Seokbin Kang, Leyla Norooz, Rafael Antonio Velez, Monica Katzen, Afe Addeh, Jon E. Froehlich, Tamara L. Clegg

Proceedings of ICLS2018

keywords: sharedphys, bodyvis, physiological sensing, large-screen displays, mixed-reality, scientific inquiry, collaborative learning, stem, wearables

PDF | Talk | Citation | BodyVis | SharedPhys

Exploring Augmented Reality Approaches to Real-Time Captioning: A Preliminary Autoethnographic Study

Dhruv Jain, Bonnie Chinh, Raja Kushalnagar, Leah Findlater, Jon E. Froehlich

Extended Abstract Proceedings of DIS2018

keywords: deaf, augmented reality, real-time captioning, sound awareness

PDF | doi | Citation | AR Captioning

SIG: Making Maps Accessible and Putting Accessibility in Maps

Anke Brock, Jon E. Froehlich, Joao Guerreiro, Benjamin Tannert, Anat Caspi, Johannes Schoning, Steve Landau

Extended Abstract Proceedings of CHI 2018

keywords: accessibility, crowdsourcing accessibility, accessible urban navigation, accessible cities, physical accessibility, touchscreen accessibility, accessible interfaces

PDF | doi | Citation | Project Sidewalk | Accessibility-Infused Maps

Prototyping and Simulating Complex Systems with Paper Craft and Augmented Reality: An Initial Investigation

Seokbin Kang, Leyla Norooz, Virginia Byrne, Tamara L. Clegg, Jon E. Froehlich

Extended Abstract Proceedings of TEI2018

keywords: children, augmented reality, prototyping, prototyping tool, design process

PDF | doi | Citation | PrototypAR

TouchCam: Realtime Recognition of Location-Specific On-Body Gestures to Support Users with Visual Impairments

Lee Stearns, Uran Oh, Leah Findlater, Jon E. Froehlich

ACM IMWUT December 2017

keywords: wearables, accessibility, computer vision, low-vision, blind users, on-body interaction, skin texture classification, gesture recognition

PDF | Citation | HandSight | TouchCam | On-Body Interaction

Recognizing Clothing Colors and Visual Textures Using a Finger-Mounted Camera: An Initial Investigation

Alexander Medeiros, Lee Stearns, Leah Findlater, Chuan Chen, Jon E. Froehlich

Extended Abstract Proceedings of ASSETS 2017

keywords: wearables, blind, visual impairments, texture recognition, cloth recognition

PDF | doi | Citation | HandSight | Cloth Recognition

Augmented Reality Magnification for Low Vision Users with the Microsoft Hololens and a Finger-Worn Camera

Lee Stearns, Victor De Souza, Jessica Yin, Leah Findlater, Jon E. Froehlich

Extended Abstract Proceedings of ASSETS 2017

keywords: wearables, visual impairments, assistive technology, augmented reality, reading printed text, magnification

PDF | doi | Citation | HandSight

TacTILE: A Preliminary Toolchain for Creating Accessible Graphics with 3D-Printed Overlays and Auditory Annotations

Liang He, Zijian Wan, Leah Findlater, Jon E. Froehlich

Extended Abstract Proceedings of ASSETS 2017

keywords: blind, visual impairments, touchscreens, 3d printing, fabrication, speech interfaces, accessible graphics

PDF | doi | Citation | Touchscreen Accessibility | TacTILE

Evaluating Wrist-Based Haptic Feedback for Non-Visual Target Finding and Path Tracing on a 2D Surface

Jonggi Hong, Alisha Pradhan, Jon E. Froehlich, Leah Findlater

Proceedings of ASSETS 2017 | Acceptance Rate: 26.2% (33 / 126)

keywords: wearables, haptics, accessibility, blind, blind users, haptic feedback, haptic wristband, directional guidance

Investigating Microinteractions for People With Visual Impairments and the Potential Role of on-Body Interaction

Uran Oh, Lee Stearns, Alisha Pradhan, Jon E. Froehlich, Leah Findlater

Proceedings of ASSETS 2017 | Acceptance Rate: 26.2% (33 / 126)

keywords: wearables, visual impairments, mobile, on-body interaction, microinteraction

A Pilot Deployment of an Online Tool for Large-Scale Virtual Auditing of Urban Accessibility

Manaswi Saha, Kotaro Hara, Soheil Behnezhad, Anthony Li, Mikey Saugstad, Teja Maddali, Sage Chen, Jon E. Froehlich

Extended Abstract Proceedings of ASSETS 2017

keywords: crowdsourcing, gis, mobility impairments, urban accessibility

PDF | doi | Citation | Project Sidewalk

Designing 3D-Printed Deformation Behaviors Using Spring-Based Structures: An Initial Investigation

Liang He, Huaishu Peng, Joshua Land, Mark Fuge, Jon E. Froehlich

Extended Abstract Proceedings of UIST 2017

keywords: mechanical springs, 3d printing, fabrication

PDF | doi | Citation | Ondulé

A Temporal Thermography System for Supporting Longitudinal Building Energy Audits

Matthew L Mauriello, Jamie H Gilkeson, Noa Chazan, Jon E. Froehlich

Extended Abstract Proceedings of Ubicomp 2017

keywords: thermography, sustainable hci, environmental sustainability, environmental hci, sustainability, information visualization, thermal cameras, environmental sensing, sensors, design, environment, sustainability

PDF | doi | Citation | Pervasive Thermography

Early Explorations of Deformable Interactive Designs with 3D-Printed Springs

Liang He, Joshua Land, Huaishu Peng, Mark Fuge, Jon E. Froehlich

Extended Abstract SCF 2017

keywords: fabricated objects

PDF | Citation

Live Physiological Sensing and Visualization Ecosystems: An Activity Theory Analysis

Tamara L. Clegg, Leyla Norooz, Seokbin Kang, Virginia Byrne, Monica Katzen, Angelisa Plane, Vanessa Oguamanam, Thomas Outing, Elizabeth Bonsignore, Jason Yip, Jon E. Froehlich

Proceedings of CHI2017 | Acceptance Rate: 25.0% (606 / 2424)

keywords: scientific inquiry, sensor-based learning, wearables

PDF | doi | Citation | BodyVis

Differences in Crowdsourced vs. Lab-based Mobile and Desktop Input Performance Data

Leah Findlater, Joan Zhang, Jon E. Froehlich, Karyn Moffatt

Proceedings of CHI2017 | Acceptance Rate: 25.0% (606 / 2424)

keywords: crowdsourcing, mobile, human performance, input devices, touchscreens

PDF | doi | Citation

Comparing Touchscreen and Mouse Input Performance by People With and Without Upper Body Motor Impairments

Leah Findlater, Karyn Moffatt, Jon E. Froehlich, Meethu Malu, Joan Zhang

Proceedings of CHI2017 | Acceptance Rate: 25.0% (606 / 2424)

keywords: accessibility, touchscreen accessibility, motor impairments, human performance, input devices, touchscreens, mouse

PDF | doi | Citation | Touchscreen Accessibility

Exploring Novice Approaches to Smartphone-based Thermographic Energy Auditing: A Field Study

Matthew L Mauriello, Manaswi Saha, Erica Brown, Jon E. Froehlich

Proceedings of CHI 2017 | Acceptance Rate: 25.0% (606 / 2424)

keywords: formative inquiry, sustainable hci, urban informatics, environmental sustainability, environmental hci, sustainability

PDF | doi | Talk | Citation | Pervasive Thermography

MakerWear: A Tangible Approach to Interactive Wearable Creation for Children

Majeed Kazemitabaar, Jason McPeak, Alex Jiao, Liang He, Thomas Outing, Jon E. Froehlich

Proceedings of CHI 2017

keywords: wearables, children, making, tangible interaction

PDF | Citation | MakerWear

SqueezaPulse: Adding Interactive Input to Fabricated Objects Using Corrugated Tubes and Air Pulses

Liang He, Gierad Laput, Eric Brockmeyer, Jon E. Froehlich

Proceedings of TEI'17

keywords: fabricated objects, acoustic sensing, squeeze interactions, corrugated acoustics

PDF | Citation | SqueezaPulse

Localization of Skin Features on the Hand and Wrist From Small Image Patches

Lee Stearns, Uran Oh, Bridget Cheng, Leah Findlater, David Ross, Rama Chellappa, Jon E. Froehlich

Proceedings of ICPR 2016

keywords: handsight, computer vision, machine learning, on-body interaction, skin texture classification, biometrics, skin-based localization

PDF | Citation | HandSight | On-Body Interaction

Evaluating Haptic and Auditory Directional Guidance to Assist Blind People in Reading Printed Text Using Finger-Mounted Cameras

Lee Stearns, Ruofei Du, Uran Oh, Catherine Jou, Leah Findlater, David Ross, Jon E. Froehlich

ACM Transactions on Accessible Computing (TACCESS) 2016

keywords: wearables, handsight, accessibility, visual impairments, real-time ocr, blind reading

PDF | Citation | HandSight | Haptic Hand Guidance

New Horizons for the IoT in Everyday Life: Proactive, Shared, Sustainable

Joel Fischer, James A. Colley, Ewa Luger, Michael Golembewski, Enrico Costanza, Sarvapali D. Ramchurn, Stephen Viller, Ian Oakley, Jon E. Froehlich

Extended Abstract Proceedings of UbiComp 2016

keywords: iot, internet of things, sharing economy, automation

PDF | doi | Citation

“That's Your Heart!”: Live Physiological Sensing & Visualization Tools for Life-Relevant & Collaborative STEM Learning

Leyla Norooz, Tamara L. Clegg, Seokbin Kang, Angelisa Plane, Vanessa Oguamanam, Jon E. Froehlich

Proceedings of ICLS 2016

keywords: sharedphys, bodyvis, physiological sensing, large-screen displays, mixed-reality, scientific inquiry, collaborative learning, stem, wearables

PDF | doi | Citation | BodyVis | SharedPhys

SharedPhys: Live Physiological Sensing, Whole-Body Interaction, and Large-Screen Visualizations to Support Shared Inquiry Experiences

Seokbin Kang, Leyla Norooz, Vanessa Oguamanam, Angelisa Plane, Tamara L. Clegg, Jon E. Froehlich

Proceedings of IDC 2016

keywords: sharedphys, bodyvis, physiological sensing, large-screen displays, mixed-reality, scientific inquiry, collaborative learning, stem, wearables

PDF | Citation | BodyVis | SharedPhys

ReWear: Early Explorations of a Modular Wearable Construction Kit for Young Children

Majeed Kazemitabaar, Liang He, Katie Wang, Chloe Aloimonos, Tony Cheng, Jon E. Froehlich

CHI '16 Extended Abstracts

keywords: wearables, e-textiles, construction kits, electronic textiles, children, making

PDF | Citation | MakerWear | ReWear

The Future Role of Thermography in Human-Building Interaction

Matthew L Mauriello, Matthew Dahlhausen, Erica Brown, Manaswi Saha, Jon E. Froehlich

CHI 2016 Workshop: Future of Human-Building Interaction

keywords: thermography, human-building interaction, thermal cameras

PDF | Citation | Pervasive Thermography

Evaluating Angular Accuracy of Wrist-based Haptic Directional Guidance for Hand Movement

Jonggi Hong, Lee Stearns, Tony Cheng, Jon E. Froehlich, David Ross, Leah Findlater

Proceedings of GI 2016 | Acceptance Rate: 39.4% (13 / 33)

keywords: wearables, haptics, non-visual directional guidance, handsight

PDF | doi | Citation | HandSight | Haptic Hand Guidance

The Design of Assistive Location-based Technologies for People with Ambulatory Disabilities: A Formative Study

Kotaro Hara, Christine Chan, Jon E. Froehlich

Proceedings of CHI 2016 | Acceptance Rate: 25.0% (600 / 2400)

keywords: accessibility, mobility impairments, formative study, gis, navigation, trip planning

PDF | doi | Citation | Accessibility-Infused Maps | Project Sidewalk

Characterizing and Visualizing Physical World Accessibility at Scale Using Crowdsourcing, Computer Vision, and Machine Learning

Kotaro Hara, Jon E. Froehlich

SIGACCESS Newsletter '15

keywords: crowdsourcing accessibility, computer vision, google street view, amazon mechanical turk, personalized routing, accessibility map visualizations

PDF | Citation | Project Sidewalk

Supporting Everyday Activities for Persons with Visual Impairments Through Computer Vision-Augmented Touch

Leah Findlater, Lee Stearns, Ruofei Du, Uran Oh, David Ross, Rama Chellappa, Jon E. Froehlich

Poster Proceedings of ASSETS 2015

keywords: finger camera, visual impairments, blind, touch vision, computer vision

PDF | Citation | HandSight

MakerShoe: Towards an E-Textile Construction Kit to Support Creativity, Playful Making, and Self-Expression

Majeed Kazemitabaar, Leyla Norooz, Mona Leigh Guha, Jon E. Froehlich

IDC '15 Extended Abstracts

keywords: construction kits, electronic textiles, e-textiles, wearables, children, making

PDF | Citation | MakerWear

Understanding the Role of Thermography in Energy Auditing: Current Practices and the Potential for Automated Solutions

Matthew L Mauriello, Leyla Norooz, Jon E. Froehlich

Proceedings of CHI 2015

keywords: energy audits, thermography, robotics, formative inquiry, design probes, sustainable hci, human-robotic interaction

PDF | Citation | Pervasive Thermography

"I Like This Shirt": Exploring the Translation of Social Mechanisms in the Virtual World into Physical Experiences

Ladan Najafizadeh, Seokbin Kang, Jon E. Froehlich

CHI '15 Extended Abstracts

keywords: wearables, e-textiles, tangible social interaction, social fabric, social objects

PDF | Citation | I Like This Shirt

AtmoSPHERE: Representing Space and Movement Using Sand Traces in an Interactive Zen Garden

Ruofei Du, Kent Wills, Max Potasznik, Jon E. Froehlich

CHI '15 Extended Abstracts

keywords: calm technology, tangible interactive art, xy servo table, sand drawings, zen gardens, physical computing

PDF | Citation | Interactive Sand Table

BodyVis: A New Approach to Body Learning Through Wearable Sensing and Visualization

Leyla Norooz, Matthew L Mauriello, Anita Jorgensen, Brenna McNally, Jon E. Froehlich

Proceedings of CHI 2015

keywords: wearables, interactive body learning, physiological sensing, tangible interactive computing

PDF | Citation | BodyVis

Head-Mounted Display Visualizations to Support Sound Awareness for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing

Dhruv Jain, Leah Findlater, Jamie H Gilkeson, Benjamin Holland, Ramani Duraiswami, Dmitry Zotkin, Christian Volger, Jon E. Froehlich

Proceedings of CHI 2015

keywords: wearables, accessibility, deaf, hard of hearing, head-mounted display, wearable, sound visualization, conversation support

PDF | Citation | GlassEar

Improving Public Transit Accessibility for Blind Riders by Crowdsourcing Bus Stop Landmark Locations with Google Street View: An Extended Analysis

Kotaro Hara, Shiri Azenkot, Megan Campbell, Cynthia Bennett, Sean Pannella, Robert Moore, Kelly Minckler, Rochelle Ng, Jon E. Froehlich

ACM Transactions on Accessible Computing (TACCESS) 2015

keywords: public transport, accessibility, crowdsourcing accessibility, bus stop auditing, google street view, crowdsourcing, low-vision, blind users, accessible bus stops, remote data collection

PDF | Citation | Project Sidewalk

Gamifying Green: Gamification and Environmental Sustainability

Jon E. Froehlich

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