Abstract
Non-visual feedback (e.g., auditory and haptic) has been used as directional cues for the blind and visually impaired (BVI) users. This paper presents the design and the evaluation of ThermalCane, a white-cane grip instrumented with multiple flexible thermal modules, to offer thermotactile directional cues for BVI users. We also conducted two thermotactile experiments on users’ perception of ThermalCane. Our first experiment with twelve BVI users reports on the selection of the thermal-module configuration, considering the BVI users’ perceptive accuracy and preference. We then evaluated the effectiveness of the four-module ThermalCane in walking with 6 BVI users, in comparison with vibrotactile cues. The results show that the thermal feedback yielded significantly higher accuracy than the vibrotactile feedback. The results also suggested the feasibility of using thermal directional cues around the cane grip for BVI users’ navigation.
| Original language | English |
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| Title of host publication | ASSETS ’20: The 22nd International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility |
| Publisher | Association for Computing Machinery |
| ISBN (Print) | 9781450371032 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - Oct 2020 |
| Event | 22nd International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS ’20) - Virtual, Athens, Greece Duration: 26 Oct 2020 → 28 Oct 2020 http://assets20.sigaccess.org/ |
Publication series
| Name | ASSETS - International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility |
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Conference
| Conference | 22nd International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS ’20) |
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| Abbreviated title | ASSETS 2020 |
| Place | Greece |
| City | Athens |
| Period | 26/10/20 → 28/10/20 |
| Internet address |
Research Keywords
- Thermotactile
- thermal haptic
- tactile white cane
- directional cue
- navigation
- visually impaired