People with visual impairments (PVI) face significant challenges in accessing photographs.Although recent generative AI tools provide their verbal descriptions, they are often insufficient to convey rich visual detail.Tactile representations offer an alternative, but conventional 2D tactile photographs have limited expressive capacity.To address this, we propose a novel method to generate 2.5D photographic reliefs integrating depth and luminance information.A user study with 12 participants with visual impairments revealed the advantages of the proposed method and how users' motivations for engaging with photographs influence their tactile explorations.

When communicating numerical data to people with visual impairments (PVI), summaries provided by current data visualization solutions tend to lose important information during summarization. To address this issue, our work focuses on summarization through bar grouping in bar graphs. Neither the effect of grouping nor the appropriate granularity of grouping has been discussed so far. Therefore, we investigate the cognitive effects of grouping and its relationship to the number of groups. A user study involving nine PVI (five blind and four with low vision) revealed that summarization through bar grouping conveys information significantly more accurately compared to simply reading individual data points, despite the inherent error produced by grouping. Additionally, we propose a cognitive error model to explain the characteristics of the observed errors.

3D printing has immense potential to enhance the lives of people with visual impairments (PVI) by enabling them to understand shapes and other details through touch that words alone cannot convey. Several initiatives have made 3D tactile models accessible to PVI, yet these models are typically created by sighted individuals. Our goal is to empower PVI to create 3D tactile models independently, making 3D printers accessible to them. The biggest bottleneck for PVI in using 3D printers is the inability to read text on their display. Our work specifically focuses on making scrolling text and menus readable. Through a user study with 13 PVI (five blind and eight with low vision), we confirmed the effectiveness of the implemented functions over conventional smartphone apps and wearable devices.

Many people with visual impairments would like to take photographs. However, they often have difficulty pointing the camera at the target. In this paper, we address this problem by proposing a novel photo-taking system called VisPhoto. Unlike conventional methods, VisPhoto generates a photograph in post-production. When the shutter button is pressed, VisPhoto captures an omnidirectional camera image that contains the surrounding scene of the camera. In post-production, the system outputs a cropped region as a “photograph” that satisfies the user’s preference. We conducted an experiment consisting of two parts. First, 24 people with visual impairments took photographs with a genuine iPhone camera app, a conventional method, and VisPhoto. Second, 20 sighted people evaluated the quality of the photographs. The experimental results showed that the participants with visual impairments preferred to use VisPhoto to take photographs of difficult targets, whereas they preferred the conventional method for easy targets. Moreover, we revealed that their preferences for photo-taking methods were influenced by the participants’ needs and values about photography and their confidence in their photographic abilities.

Abstract For people with visual impairment, smartphone apps that use computer vision techniques to provide visual information have played important roles in supporting their daily lives. However, they can be used under a specific condition only. That is, only when the user knows where the object of interest is . In this paper, we first point out the fact mentioned above by categorizing the tasks that obtain visual information using computer vision techniques. Then, in looking for something as a representative task in a category, we argue suitable camera systems and rotation navigation methods. In the latter, we propose novel voice navigation methods. As a result of a user study comprised of seven people with visual impairment, we found that (1) a camera with a wide field of view such as an omnidirectional camera was preferred, and (2) users have different preferences in navigation methods.

This study examines embossed dots graphics produced with a 3D printer for the purpose of providing practical information to visually impaired people. Using 3D printing to produce tactile graphics has a benefit to make use of our cumulative assets in tactile graphics production: techniques and production tools. The author designed this study to specifically take up the following challenge: develop a system that would convert data created using embossed dots graphics drawing software for a braille embosser into data that could be used with 3D CAD software. The conversion would allow for completely customization of the size and shape of every dot, freeing us from the limitations in dot type associated with the braille embosser. Results are confirmed via physical measurements and tactile observation assessments.

We have worked on the development of software that uses the R statistics software environment to automatically generate tactile graphs--i.e., graphs that can be read by blind people using their sense of touch. We released this software as a Web application to make it available to anyone, from anywhere. This Web application can automatically generate images for tactile graphs from numerical data in a CSV file. This report discusses the Web application's functions and operating procedures.