Blind and Low-vision (BLV) people face challenges in their daily lives, especially regarding independent navigation in unfamiliar settings. Assistive robots have recently emerged as assistive tools for people with special needs. Drones, in particular, have unique advantages over ground robots. Our work aims at designing a drone assistant in addition to primary mobility aids (i.e., white cane) to improve spatial awareness and navigation in unfamiliar settings. Using a Research-through-Design method with 21 BLV users, we identified challenging scenarios and the need for two distinct operating modes (Explorer and Team). We then deployed a low-fidelity prototype in a Wizard-of-Oz study. Participants were enthusiastic about the assistive drone. The outcomes were reviewed by low vision specialists and drone experts to critically assess the strengths and limitations of this assistive tool. Based on these results, we provide recommendations for future design of assistive drones tailored to BLV users.

Self-localization and wayfinding are challenging tasks for people with visual impairments (PVIs), severely impacting independent mobility. Visual “You-are-here” (YAH) maps are useful for assisting local wayfinding of sighted users. They are used to self-localize and display points of interest, landmarks and routes in the surroundings. However, these maps are not always available and rarely accessible to PVIs. Relying on an iterative participatory design process with eight end-users with visual impairments, we created a proof of concept of a mobile audio-vibratory YAH map. Our design is based on either a tablet or a smartphone to ensure a small and portable solution. A user study with ten PVIs showed that the audio-vibratory YAH map that we designed provides the user with a good understanding of the surroundings and wayfinding cues. Surprisingly, the results show that the audio-vibratory YAH map prototype was as usable as the control condition (audio-tactile YAH map with a tactile overlay), with similar user satisfaction and cognitive load. A follow-up field study with two participants showed the effectiveness of the prototype for assisting in crossroad understanding. To conclude, our innovative design of a mobile audio-vibratory YAH map can overcome the portability and printing issues associated with tactile overlays and can be an appropriate solution for assisting the pedestrian navigation of PVIs.

The understanding of multi-level spatial topologies is a difficult and frequent challenge in people with visual impairments daily life, impacting their independent mobility. Using the tools of the “maker” movement, and following an iterative co-design process with Orientation and Mobility instructors, we created an innovative tool (3D printed interactive model of a train station) for teaching complex spatial knowledge. Then, we did a comparative study with end users between the 3D interactive model that we designed and two 2D interactive tactile maps representing the same location. Our results show that the 3D interactive model is useful and usable, provides better satisfaction and is preferred to 2D tactile maps. In addition, complex spatial notions are better understood with the 3D model. Altogether, these results suggest that the “maker movement” may empower special education teachers with adapted and innovative tools.

The lockdown period related to the COVID-19 pandemic has had a strong impact on the educational system in general, but more particularly on the special education system. Indeed, in the case of people with visual impairments, the regular tools relying heavily on images and videos were no longer usable. This specific situation highlighted an urgent need to develop tools that are accessible and that can provide solutions for remote teaching with people with VI. However, there is little work on the difficulties that this population encounters when they learn remotely as well as on the current practices of special education teachers. Such a lack of understanding limits the development of remote teaching systems that are adapted. In this paper, we conducted an online survey regarding the practices of 59 professionals giving lessons to pupils with VI, followed by a series of focus groups with special education workers facing teaching issues during the lockdown period. We followed an iterative design process where we designed successive low-fidelity prototypes to drive successive focus groups. We contribute with an analysis of the issues faced by special education teachers in this situation, and a concept to drive the future development of a tool for remote graphic-based teaching with pupils with VI.

Raised-line graphics are tactile documents made for people with visual impairments (VI). Their exploration relies on a complex two-handed behavior. To better understand the cognitive processes underlying this exploration, we proposed a new method based on “tactile fixations”. A tactile fixation occurs when a finger is stationary within a specific spatial and temporal window. It is known that stationary fingers play an active role when exploring tactile graphics, but they have never been defined or studied before. In this study, we first defined the concept of tactile fixation, then we conducted a behavioral study with ten participants with VI in order to assess the role of tactile fixations under different conditions. The results show that tactile fixations vary according to different factors such as the graphic type as well as the involved hand and the aim of the exploration.

Board games allow us to share collective entertainment experiences. They entertain because of the interactions between players, physical manipulation of tokens and decision making. Unfortunately, most board games exclude people with visual impairments as they were not initially designed for players with special needs. Through a user-centered design process with an accessible game library and visually impaired players, we observed challenges and solutions in making existing board games accessible through handcrafted solutions (tactile stickers, braille labels, etc.). In a second step, we used Spatial Augmented Reality (SAR), to make existing board games inclusive by adding interactivity (GameARt). In a case study with an existing board game considered as not accessible (Jamaica), we designed an interactive SAR version with touch detection (JamaicAR). We evaluated this prototype in a user study with 5 groups of 3 players each, including sighted, low vision and blind players. All players, independent of visual status, were able to play the Augmented Reality game. Moreover, the game was rated positively by all players regarding attractiveness, play engrossment, enjoyment and social connectivity. Our work shows that Spatial Augmented Reality has the potential to make board games accessible to people with visual impairments when handcrafted adaptations fall short.

Tangible User Interfaces (TUI) have been found to be relevant tools for collaborative learning by providing a shared workspace and enhancing joint visual attention. Researchers have explored the use of TUIs in a variety of curricular activities and found them particularly interesting for spatial exploration. However, very few studies have explored how TUIs could be used as a collaborative medium for people with visual impairments (VIs). In this study, we investigated the effect of tangible interaction (a small tangible robot) in a spatial collaborative task (a treasure hunt) involving two people with VIs. The aim was to evaluate the impact of the design of the TUI on the collaboration and the strategies used to perform the task. The experiment involved six dyads of people with VIs. The results showed that the collaboration was impacted by the interaction design and open interesting perspectives on the design of collaborative games for people with VIs.

Low vision is a visual impairment that affects one's capacity to perform daily activities, among others, reading. Since difficulty to access printed materials is an obstacle to education, employment and social activities, adaptations of these material is often required, such as the usage of large print or audio transcriptions. The advent of digital documents, on computers and mobile devices, has enhanced the accessibility of text for people with low vision; however, there is still a lack of supply regarding accessible books for recreation reading. In this work, we study how an accessible reader can impact reader's engagement with comics, for both children and adults. We summarise the results of online surveys that have been conducted about the current usage of comics by reader with low vision and how professional attempt to provide them. This led to the design of ALCOVE, an accessible comic reader for people with low vision. We report the results of a user study with 11 participants with low vision, that examined both the usefulness of the proposed comic reader and the reading presentation mode. Results show that the participants found our application easy and very convenient to use.

Visual graphics are widely spread in digital media and are useful in many contexts of daily life. However, access to this type of graphical information remains a challenging task for people with visual impairments (VI). In this study, we designed and evaluated an on-hand vibrotactile interface that enables users with VI to explore digital graphics presented on tablets. We first conducted a set of exploratory tests with both people with VI and blindfolded (BF) people to investigate several design factors. We then conducted a comparative experiment to verify that on-hand vibrotactile cues (indicating direction and progression) can enhance the non-visual exploration of digital graphics. The results based on 12 participants with VI and 12 BF participants confirmed the usability of the technique and revealed that the visual status of the users does not impact graphics identification and comparison tasks.

The development of novel shape-changing or actuated tabletop tangible interfaces opens new perspectives for the design of physical and dynamic maps, especially for visually impaired (VI) users. Such maps would allow non-visual haptic exploration with advanced functions, such as panning and zooming. In this study, we designed an actuated tangible tabletop interface, called BotMap, allowing the exploration of geographic data through non-visual panning and zooming. In BotMap, small robots represent landmarks and move to their correct position whenever the map is refreshed. Users can interact with the robots to retrieve the names of the landmarks they represent. We designed two interfaces, named Keyboard and Sliders, which enable users to pan and zoom. Two evaluations were conducted with, respectively, ten blindfolded and eight VI participants. Results show that both interfaces were usable, with a slight advantage for the Keyboard interface in terms of navigation performance and map comprehension, and that, even when many panning and zooming operations were required, VI participants were able to understand the maps. Most participants managed to accurately reconstruct maps after exploration. Finally, we observed three VI people using the system and performing a classical task consisting in finding the more appropriate itinerary for a journey.

Raised-line diagrams are widely used by visually impaired (VI) people to read maps, drawings or graphs. While previous work has identified general exploration strategies for raised-line drawings, we have limited knowledge on how this exploration is performed in detail and how it extends to other types of diagrams such as maps or graphs, frequently used in specialized schools. Such information can be crucial for the design of accessible interfaces on touchscreens. We conducted a study in which participants were asked to explore five types of raised-line diagrams (common drawings, perspective drawings, mathematical graphs, neighborhood maps, and geographical maps) while tracking both hands fingers. Relying on a first set of results, we proposed a set of design guidelines for touch interfaces.

Tactile relief maps are used by visually impaired people to acquire mental representation of space, but they retain important limitations (limited amount of information, braille text, etc.). Interactive maps may overcome these limitations. However, usability of these two types of maps has never been compared. It is then unknown whether interactive maps are equivalent or even better solutions than traditional raised-line maps. This study presents a comparison of usability of a classical raised-line map versus an interactive map composed of a multitouch screen, a raised-line overlay, and audio output. Both maps were tested by 24 blind participants. We measured usability as efficiency, effectiveness, and satisfaction. Our results show that replacing braille with simple audio-tactile interaction significantly improved efficiency and user satisfaction. Effectiveness was not related to the map type but depended on users’ characteristics as well as the category of assessed spatial knowledge. Long-term evaluation of acquired spatial information revealed that maps, whether interactive or not, are useful to build robust survey-type mental representations in blind users. Altogether, these results are encouraging as they show that interactive maps are a good solution for improving map exploration and cognitive mapping in visually impaired people.

There are many electronic devices for the visually impaired but few actually get used on a daily basis. This is due in part to the fact that many devices often fail to address the real needs of the users. In this study, we begin with a review of the existing literature followed by a survey of 54 blind people which suggests that one particular function could be particularly useful in a new device, namely, the ability to localize objects. We have tested the possibility of using a sound rendering system to indicate a particular spatial location, and propose to couple this with a biologically inspired image processing system that can locate visual patterns that correspond to particular objects and places. We believe that such a system can address one of the major problems faced by the visually handicapped, namely their difficulty in localizing specific objects.