Tool Substitution

The practice of using a different tool than what is specified or expected to accomplish a task, common among people with disabilities who adapt their approaches based on available resources, physical capabilities, or personal preference. In non-visual cooking, BLV individuals frequently substitute tools—using fingers instead of spatulas for spreading, butter knives for flipping, or alternative utensils that provide better tactile feedback. Tool substitution challenges assistive AI systems that assume fixed action-tool mappings, making object status recognition (tracking what happens to ingredients) more robust than action recognition (tracking what tools are used).