Abstract
The development of assistive technologies is improving the independent access of blind and visually impaired people to visual artworks through non-visual channels. Current single modality tactile and auditory approaches to communicate color contents must compromise between conveying a broad color palette, ease of learning, and suffer from limited expressiveness. In this work, we propose a multi-sensory color code system that uses sound and scent to represent colors. Melodies express each color’s hue and scents the saturated, light, and dark color dimensions for each hue. In collaboration with eighteen participants, we evaluated the color identification rate achieved when using the multi-sensory approach. Seven (39%) of the participants improved their identification rate, five (28%) remained the same, and six (33%) performed worse when compared to an audio-only color code alternative. The participants then evaluated and compared a color content exploration prototype that uses the proposed color code with a tactile graphic equivalent using the System Usability Scale. For a visual artwork color exploration task, the multi-sensory color code integrated prototype received a score of 78.61, while the tactile graphics equivalent received 61.53. User feedback indicates that the multi-sensory color code system improved the convenience and confidence of the participants.
Highlights
In 2010, the World Health Organization estimated that at least 285 million people worldwide have a form of visual impairment, 39 million of whom are blind
Multi-sensory color coding using sounds and scents, which we explore in this work, can be used to alleviate the complexity of using tactile graphics with tactile color patterns
We evaluated the color code system to determine if using a multisensory approach eases the effort to recognize the encoded colors and help improve the color identification compared to the commonly used uni-sensory method
Summary
In 2010, the World Health Organization estimated that at least 285 million people worldwide have a form of visual impairment, 39 million of whom are blind. Access to visual artworks by blind and visually impaired people has been made possible through accessible tours and workshops [4,5], audio guides [6], Braille leaflets with embossed tactile diagrams [7], tactile 3D models [8], and, more recently, by interactive interfaces that provide rich and location-based information through multiple sensory channels [9,10,11,12,13] These methods fail to facilitate experiencing the artwork’s color contents. Perceiving it is essential for a complete artwork experience
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