Abstract
We present a study with seven blind participants using three different mobile OCR apps to find text posted in various indoor environments. The first app considered was Microsoft SeeingAI in its Short Text mode, which reads any text in sight with a minimalistic interface. The second app was Spot+OCR, a custom application that separates the task of text detection from OCR proper. Upon detection of text in the image, Spot+OCR generates a short vibration; as soon as the user stabilizes the phone, a high-resolution snapshot is taken and OCR-processed. The third app, Guided OCR, was designed to guide the user in taking several pictures in a 360° span at the maximum resolution available by the camera, with minimum overlap between pictures. Quantitative results (in terms of true positive ratios and traversal speed) were recorded. Along with the qualitative observation and outcomes from an exit survey, these results allow us to identify and assess the different strategies used by our participants, as well as the challenges of operating these systems without sight.
Highlights
A number of assistive technology application for users with visual impairment have recently appeared on the market
In the Experiment 2 trials, most participants scanned the environment by turning around while staying in place, except for P1 and P4 who walked around the space in their first trial, and P6 for both initial trials
Due to a technical issue, the Guided optical character recognition (OCR) app did not work for the trial with participant P4
Summary
A number of assistive technology application for users with visual impairment have recently appeared on the market. SeeingAI comprises a suite of functionalities, including optical character recognition (OCR), face detection, scene description, money reader, and barcode reader. Of interest to this contribution is the ‘Short Text’ modality of SeeingAI. Short Text is a simple, powerful, and fast OCR application. It has a minimalistic user interface, which adds to its allure. Anecdotal evidence shows that blind users of Short Text use it for a variety of applications, such as reading the label of a bottle, accessing a sign posted at a bus stop, and reading text on a computer screen
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