Blindfolded Users Research Articles

Design, Development and Evaluation of Haptic and Olfactory based Application for Visually Impaired Learners

Educational entertainment or edutainment is a popular approach to allow learners experience a fun learning environment while acquiring knowledge. Currently, this approach is widely used and has promising benefits, whereby not only it provides a fun learning environment but also cause learners to hardly notice the learning process. However, as there are a minimum of 2.2 billion people worldwide with vision impairment or blindness, this approach can be a challenging experience for them. It is thus important to provide equal opportunities for these members of the community in the teaching and learning environment. Owing to the limited applications available for the visually impaired in virtual edutainment tailored for them, this research aims to design and develop an edutainment application for visually impaired users using a user-centered design. The application allows users to touch 3D objects using Touch by 3DSystems. In addition, sounds and smells will be released from the speaker and olfactory devices, respectively. The usability and satisfaction of users toward this application was tested on the visually impaired as well as blindfolded users using a 7-point Likert scale questionnaire. This questionnaire was constructed in accordance with USE (Usefulness, Satisfaction, and Ease of use) by Lund. A total of 10 participants – including visually impaired teachers and blindfolded students – participated in this study. Participants in this study agreed that the proposed application is useful, easy to use, easy to learn, and were satisfied with the application. The average rating of the results out of 7 was 5.92 for usefulness, 5.6 for ease of use, 6.22 for ease of learning, and 6.25 for satisfaction.

Untethered Feel‐Through Haptics Using 18‐µm Thick Dielectric Elastomer Actuators

AbstractHead‐mounted displays for virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) allow users to see highly realistic virtual worlds. The wearable haptics that enable feeling and touching these virtual objects are typically bulky, tethered, and provide only low fidelity feedback. A particularly challenging type of wearable human‐machine interface is feel‐through haptics: ultra‐thin wearables so soft as to be mechanically imperceptible when turned off, yet generating sufficient force when actuated to make virtual objects feel tangible, or to change the perceived texture of a physical object. Here, 18 µm thick soft dielectric elastomer actuators (DEA), directly applied on the skin, reports rich vibrotactile feedback generation from 1 Hz to 500 Hz. Users correctly identifies different frequency and sequence patterns with success rates from 73 to 97% for devices applied on their fingertips. An untethered version weighing only 1.3 grams allowed blindfolded users to correctly identify letters by “seeing” them through their fingers. The silicone‐based DEA membrane is mechanically transparent, enabling wearable haptics for the many applications where hand dexterity is critical. The feel‐through DEA can be placed in array format anywhere on the body.

Comparative analysis of computer-vision and BLE technology based indoor navigation systems for people with visual impairments

BackgroundConsiderable number of indoor navigation systems has been proposed to augment people with visual impairments (VI) about their surroundings. These systems leverage several technologies, such as computer-vision, Bluetooth low energy (BLE), and other techniques to estimate the position of a user in indoor areas. Computer-vision based systems use several techniques including matching pictures, classifying captured images, recognizing visual objects or visual markers. BLE based system utilizes BLE beacons attached in the indoor areas as the source of the radio frequency signal to localize the position of the user.MethodsIn this paper, we examine the performance and usability of two computer-vision based systems and BLE-based system. The first system is computer-vision based system, called CamNav that uses a trained deep learning model to recognize locations, and the second system, called QRNav, that utilizes visual markers (QR codes) to determine locations. A field test with 10 blindfolded users has been conducted while using the three navigation systems.ResultsThe obtained results from navigation experiment and feedback from blindfolded users show that QRNav and CamNav system is more efficient than BLE based system in terms of accuracy and usability. The error occurred in BLE based application is more than 30% compared to computer vision based systems including CamNav and QRNav.ConclusionsThe developed navigation systems are able to provide reliable assistance for the participants during real time experiments. Some of the participants took minimal external assistance while moving through the junctions in the corridor areas. Computer vision technology demonstrated its superiority over BLE technology in assistive systems for people with visual impairments.

Unconstrained self-calibration of stereo camera on visually impaired assistance devices.

Stereo cameras are widely used in wearable visually impaired assistance devices (VIADs). However, the inevitable vibration, shock, and mechanical stress may make the camera pair become misaligned and cause a sharp decline in the quality of the acquired depth map, which significantly influences the performance of VIADs. In this paper, we propose an epipolar-constraint-based unconstrained self-calibration method that requires neither user involvement nor specific environment, while achieving a rotation accuracy of 0.83 mrad and a translation accuracy of 0.42 mm. Several approaches are proposed to address the image matching issues, including blurred images removal, mismatched key points removal, etc. Based on correctly matched key point pairs, a planar quadric-distribution approach is proposed to ensure the quality and consistency of the final key point group. These collection approaches ensure the reliability of key point pairs, which is the most important factor to realize high accuracy with minimum constraint. A comprehensive set of experiments demonstrates the high robustness of the proposed methods, which are suitable for VIADs. We also present a field test with blindfolded users to validate the flexibility and applicability of the approach.

Tele-Media-Art:Feasibility Tests of Web-Based Dance Education for the Blind Using Kinect and Sound Synthesis of Motion

Tele-media-art is a web-based asynchronous e-learning platform, enabling blind students to have dance and theatre classes remotely, using low-cost motion tracking technology feasible for home use. Teachers and students submit dance recordings augmented with sound synthesis of their motions. Sound synthesis is generated by processing Kinect motion capture data, enabling blind students to compare the audio feedback of their motions with the audio generated by the teacher's motions. To study the feasibility of this approach, the authors present data on early testing of the prototype, performed with blindfolded users.

Cooperative Navigation for Mixed Human–Robot Teams Using Haptic Feedback

In this paper, we present a novel cooperative navigation control for human–robot teams. Assuming that a human wants to reach a final location in a large environment with the help of a mobile robot, the robot must steer the human from the initial to the target position. The challenges posed by cooperative human–robot navigation are typically addressed by using haptic feedback via physical interaction. In contrast with that, in this paper, we describe a different approach, in which the human–robot interaction is achieved via wearable vibrotactile armbands. In the proposed work, the subject is free to decide her/his own pace. A warning vibrational signal is generated by the haptic armbands when a large deviation with respect to the desired pose is detected by the robot. The proposed method has been evaluated in a large indoor environment, where 15 blindfolded human subjects were asked to follow the haptic cues provided by the robot. The participants had to reach a target area, while avoiding static and dynamic obstacles. Experimental results revealed that the blindfolded subjects were able to avoid the obstacles and safely reach the target in all of the performed trials. A comparison is provided between the results obtained with blindfolded users and experiments performed with sighted people.

An assistive haptic interface for appearance-based indoor navigation

Computer vision remains an under-exploited technology for assistive devices. Here, we propose a navigation technique using low-resolution images from wearable or hand-held cameras to identify landmarks that are indicative of a user’s position along crowdsourced paths. We test the components of a system that is able to provide blindfolded users with information about location via tactile feedback. We assess the accuracy of vision-based localisation by making comparisons with estimates of location derived from both a recent SLAM-based algorithm and from indoor surveying equipment. We evaluate the precision and reliability by which location information can be conveyed to human subjects by analysing their ability to infer position from electrostatic feedback in the form of textural (haptic) cues on a tablet device. Finally, we describe a relatively lightweight systems architecture that enables images to be captured and location results to be served back to the haptic device based on journey information from multiple users and devices.

Assisting Visually Impaired People to Acquire Targets on a Large Wall-Mounted Display

Large displays have become ubiquitous in our everyday lives, but these displays are designed for sighted people. This paper addresses the need for visually impaired people to access targets on large wall-mounted displays. We developed an assistive interface which exploits mid-air gesture input and haptic feedback, and examined its potential for pointing and steering tasks in human computer interaction (HCI). In two experiments, blind and blindfolded users performed target acquisition tasks using mid-air gestures and two different kinds of feedback (i.e., haptic feedback and audio feedback). Our results show that participants perform faster in Fitts’ law pointing tasks using the haptic feedback interface rather than the audio feedback interface. Furthermore, a regression analysis between movement time (MT) and the index of difficulty (ID) demonstrates that the Fitts’ law model and the steering law model are both effective for the evaluation of assistive interfaces for the blind. Our work and findings will serve as an initial step to assist visually impaired people to easily access required information on large public displays using haptic interfaces.

독서장애인을 위한 음성 도서 어노테이션 검색 기법

본 연구에서는 독서장애인을 위한 모바일 전자책에 저장된 어노테이션을 탐색하고 그 결과를 재생하는 기법을 제안하고, 이를 음성 어노테이션 브라우징 시스템이라 칭하였다. 제안된 음성 어노테이션 브라우징 시스템은 명령 입력, 중요도 분석 및 추천, 검색, 출력 단계로 구성된다. 특히 본 논문에서는 대상 사용자가 청각 의존도가 높은 독서장애인들이기 때문에 완전히 청각에 의존해서 사용할 수 있도록 모든 단계에서 음성인식 인터페이스를 제공한다. 제안된 음성 어노테이션 브라우징 시스템의 효율성을 검증하기 위해 모바일 안드로이드 환경에서 실행되는 전자책 소프트웨어와 음성 어노테이션 브라우징 시스템을 설계하고 구현 하였다. 구현된 시스템은 전맹인으로 구성된 다수의 사용자들로 하여금 검증하도록 하였으며, 그 결과 이들이 원하는 어노테이션을 찾는 과정이 성공적으로 이루어 질 수 있음을 확인 하였다.