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Touchscreen-Based Haptic Information Access for Assisting Blind and Visually-Impaired Users: Perceptual Parameters and Design Guidelines

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Advances in Usability, User Experience and Assistive Technology (AHFE 2018)

Part of the book series: Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing ((AISC,volume 794))

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Abstract

Touchscreen-based smart devices, such as smartphones and tablets, offer great promise for providing blind and visually-impaired (BVI) users with a means for accessing graphics non-visually. However, they also offer novel challenges as they were primarily developed for use as a visual interface. This paper studies key usability parameters governing accurate rendering of haptically-perceivable graphical materials. Three psychophysically-motivated usability studies, incorporating 46 BVI participants, were conducted that identified three key parameters for accurate rendering of vibrotactile lines. Results suggested that the best performance and greatest perceptual salience is obtained with vibrotactile feedback based on: (1) a minimum width of 1 mm for detecting lines, (2) a minimum gap of 4 mm for discriminating lines rendered parallel to each other, and (3) a minimum angular separation (i.e., cord length) of 4 mm for discriminating oriented lines. Findings provide foundational guidelines for converting/rendering visual graphical materials on touchscreen-based interfaces for supporting haptic/vibrotactile information access.

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Acknowledgments

We acknowledge support from NSF grants CHS-1425337 and ECR DCL Level 2 1644471 on this project.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Spatial Informatics Program: School of Computing and Information Science, The University of Maine, Orono, ME, 04469, USA

    Hari Prasath Palani & Nicholas A. Giudice

  2. VEMI Lab, The University of Maine, Orono, ME, 04469, USA

    Hari Prasath Palani, G. Bernard Giudice & Nicholas A. Giudice

  3. Department of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering, Saint-Louis University, St. Louis, MO, USA

    Jennifer L. Tennison

Authors
  1. Hari Prasath Palani
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  2. Jennifer L. Tennison
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  3. G. Bernard Giudice
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  4. Nicholas A. Giudice
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Hari Prasath Palani .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL, USA

    Tareq Z. Ahram

  2. Catholic University of Pernambuco, Boa Viagem, Pernambuco, Brazil

    Christianne Falcão

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Palani, H.P., Tennison, J.L., Giudice, G.B., Giudice, N.A. (2019). Touchscreen-Based Haptic Information Access for Assisting Blind and Visually-Impaired Users: Perceptual Parameters and Design Guidelines. In: Ahram, T., Falcão, C. (eds) Advances in Usability, User Experience and Assistive Technology. AHFE 2018. Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing, vol 794. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-94947-5_82

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-94947-5_82

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  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-94947-5

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