Ryo Suzuki
Abigale Stangl
Mark D. Gross
ABSTRACT
For people with visual impairments, tactile graphics are an important means to learn and explore information. However, raised line tactile graphics created with traditional materials such as embossing are static. While available refreshable displays can dynamically change the content, they are still too expensive for many users, and are limited in size. These factors limit wide-spread adoption and the representation of large graphics or data sets. In this paper, we present FluxMaker, an inexpensive scalable system that renders dynamic information on top of static tactile graphics with movable tactile markers. These dynamic tactile markers can be easily reconfigured and used to annotate static raised line tactile graphics, including maps, graphs, and diagrams. We developed a hardware prototype that actuates magnetic tactile markers driven by low-cost and scalable electromagnetic coil arrays, which can be fabricated with standard printed circuit board manufacturing. We evaluate our prototype with six participants with visual impairments and found positive results across four application areas: location finding or navigating on tactile maps, data analysis, and physicalization, feature identification for tactile graphics, and drawing support. The user study confirms advantages in application domains such as education and data exploration.
Supplemental Material
- Braille authority of north america, http://www.brailleauthority.org/tg/.Google Scholar
- Hyperbraille, http://www.hyperbraille.de.Google Scholar
- The braille literacycrisis in america, 2009.Google Scholar
- Blindness statistics, 2015.Google Scholar
- C. M. Baker, L. R. Milne, J. Scofield, C. L. Bennett, and R.E. Ladner.Tactile graphics withavoice: usingqr codesto access text in tactile graphics. In Proceedings of ASSETS, pages 75-82.ACM, 2014. Google ScholarDigital Library
- A.M. Brock,P.Truillet,B. Oriola,D. Picard, and C. Jouffrais. Interactivity improves usability of geographic maps for visually impaired people. Human-Computer Interaction, 30(2):156-194, 2015. Google ScholarDigital Library
- C. Brown andA. Hurst.Viztouch: automatically generated tactile visualizations of coordinate spaces. In Proceedings of TEI, pages 131-138.ACM, 2012. Google ScholarDigital Library
- P. Chakraborti,H.K.Toprakci,P.Yang,N.Di Spigna, P. Franzon, andT. Ghosh.Acompact dielectric elastomer tubular actuator for refreshable braille displays. Sensors and Actuators A: Physical, 179:151-157, 2012.Google ScholarCross Ref
- H.-C. Cho, B.-S. Kim, J.-J.Park, and J.-B. Song. Development of a braille display using piezoelectric linear motors. In SICE-ICASE, 2006. InternationalJoint Conference, pages 1917-1921. IEEE, 2006.Google ScholarCross Ref
- J. Ducasse, M. J. Macé, M. Serrano, and C. Jouffrais. Tangible reels: construction and exploration of tangible maps by visually impaired users. In Proceedings of CHI, pages 2186-2197.ACM, 2016. Google ScholarDigital Library
- S.Follmer,D. Leithinger,A.Olwal,A. Hogge, andH. Ishii. inform: dynamic physical affordances and constraints through shape and object actuation. In Proceedings of UIST, volume 13, pages 417-426, 2013. Google ScholarDigital Library
- G. Fusco andV.S. Morash. The tactile graphics helper: providing audio clarification for tactile graphics using machine vision. In Proceedings of ASSETS, pages 97-106. ACM, 2015. Google ScholarDigital Library
- S. Hayhoe. Reducing passive cultural exclusion of people with disabilities, an epistemological approach. 2014.Google Scholar
- M.S. Horn,E.T. Solovey,R.J. Crouser, andR.J. Jacob. Comparing the use of tangible and graphical programming languages for informal science education. In Proceedings of CHI, pages 975-984.ACM, 2009. Google ScholarDigital Library
- H. Ishii andB. Ullmer.Tangible bits: towards seamless interfaces between people, bits and atoms. In Proceedings of CHI, pages 234-241.ACM, 1997. Google ScholarDigital Library
- R. D. Jacobson. Navigating maps with little or no sight: An audio-tactile approach. Proceedings of ContentVisualization and Intermedia Representations, pages 95-102, 1998.Google Scholar
- Y. Jansen,P. Dragicevic,P. Isenberg,J. Alexander, A. Karnik, J. Kildal, S. Subramanian, and K. Hornbæk. Opportunities and challenges for data physicalization. In Proceedings of CHI, pages 3227-3236.ACM, 2015. Google ScholarDigital Library
- C. Jayant,M. Renzelmann,D.Wen,S. Krisnandi,R. Ladner, and D. Comden. Automated tactile graphics translation: in the field. In Proceedings of CHI, pages 75-82.ACM, 2007. Google ScholarDigital Library
- M. E. Karagozler, S. C. Goldstein, and J. R. Reid. Stress-driven mems assembly+ electrostatic forces= 1mm diameter robot. In Proceedings of IROS, pages 2763-2769. IEEE, 2009. Google ScholarDigital Library
- S. Landau andL.Wells. Merging tactile sensory input and audio data by means of the talking tactile tablet. In Proceedings Eurohaptics, volume 3, 2003.Google Scholar
- M.Le Goc,L.H. Kim,A.Parsaei, J.-D. Fekete, P. Dragicevic, andS.Follmer. Zooids: Building blocks for swarm user interfaces. In Proceedings of UIST, pages 97-109.ACM, 2016. Google ScholarDigital Library
- J.S. Lee andS. Lucyszyn.Amicromachined refreshable braille cell. journal of microelectromechanical systems, 14(4):673-682, 2005.Google Scholar
- D. Leithinger and H. Ishii. Relief: a scalable actuated shape display. In Proceedings of TEI, pages 221-222.ACM, 2010. Google ScholarDigital Library
- R. MacCurdy,R. Katzschmann,Y. Kim, andD. Rus. Printablehydraulics:a method forfabricating robotsby3d co-printing solids and liquids. In Proceedings of ICRA, pages 3878-3885. IEEE, 2016.Google Scholar
- D. McGookin, E. Robertson, and S. Brewster. Clutching at straws: using tangible interaction to provide non-visual access to graphs. In Proceedings of CHI, pages 1715-1724. ACM, 2010. Google ScholarDigital Library
- J.A. Miele,S. Landau, andD. Gilden.Talking tmap: Automated generation of audio-tactile maps using smith-kettlewell?s tmap software. BritishJournal ofVisual Impairment, 24(2):93-100, 2006.Google ScholarCross Ref
- G.Pangaro,D. Maynes-Aminzade, andH. Ishii. The actuated workbench: computer-controlled actuation in tabletop tangible interfaces. In Proceedings of UIST, pages 181-190.ACM, 2002. Google ScholarDigital Library
- J.Patten andH. Ishii. Mechanical constraints as computational constraints in tabletop tangible interfaces. In Proceedings of CHI, pages 809-818.ACM, 2007. Google ScholarDigital Library
- R. Pelrine,A.Wong-Foy,B. McCoy,D. Holeman, R. Mahoney,G. Myers,J. Herson, andT.Low. Diamagnetically levitated robots: An approach to massively parallel robotic systems with unusual motion properties. In Proceedings of ICRA, pages 739-744. IEEE, 2012.Google ScholarCross Ref
- I. Poupyrev,T. Nashida,S. Maruyama,J. Rekimoto, and Y.Yamaji. Lumen: interactive visual and shape display for calm computing. In ACM SIGGRAPH 2004 Emerging technologies, page 17.ACM, 2004. Google ScholarDigital Library
- D. Prescher,G.Weber, andM. Spindler.Atactile windowing system for blind users. In Proceedings of ASSETS, pages 91-98.ACM, 2010. Google ScholarDigital Library
- M. Rice, R. D. Jacobson, R. G. Golledge, and D. Jones. Design considerations for haptic and auditory map interfaces. Cartography and Geographic Information Science, 32(4):381-391, 2005.Google ScholarCross Ref
- N. Runyan and D. Blazie. Eap actuators aid the quest for the?holy braille?of tactile displays. In SPIE Smart Structures and Materials+ Nondestructive Evaluation and Health Monitoring, pages 764207-764207. International Society for Optics and Photonics, 2010.Google Scholar
- A. Russomanno, R. B. Gillespie, S. O?Modhrain, and M. Burns. The design of pressure-controlled valves for a refreshable tactile display. In World Haptics Conference (WHC), 2015 IEEE, pages 177-182. IEEE, 2015.Google ScholarCross Ref
- B. Schmitz andT. Ertl. Interactively displaying maps ona tactile graphics display. In Proceedings 2012Workshop on Spatial Knowledge Acquisition with Limited Information Displays, pages 13-18, 2012.Google Scholar
- J. Schneider andT. Strothotte. Constructiveexplorationof spatial information by blind users. In Proceedings of ASSETS, pages 188-192.ACM, 2000. Google ScholarDigital Library
- R. ?tampach and E. Mulícková. Automated generation of tactile maps. Journal of Maps, 12(sup1):532-540, 2016.Google ScholarCross Ref
- E. Strasnick,J.Yang,K.Tanner,A.Olwal, andS.Follmer. shiftio: Reconfigurable tactile elements for dynamic affordances and mobile interaction. In Proceedings of CHI. ACM, 2017. Google ScholarDigital Library
- S.Swaminathan,T. Roumen,R.Kovacs,D. Stangl, S. Mueller, andP. Baudisch. Linespace:Asensemaking platform for the blind. In Proceedings of CHI, pages 2175-2185.ACM, 2016. Google ScholarDigital Library
- A.Tatham. The designof tactile maps: theoretical and practical considerations. Proceedings of international cartographic association: mapping the nations, pages 157-166, 1991.Google Scholar
- P.Taylor,A. Moser, andA. Creed.Asixty-four element tactile display using shape memory alloywires. Displays, 18(3):163-168, 1998.Google ScholarCross Ref
- J. Underkoffler and H. Ishii. Urp: a luminous-tangible workbench for urban planning and design. In Proceedings of CHI, pages 386-393.ACM, 1999. Google ScholarDigital Library
- T. Völkel,G.Weber, andU. Baumann.Tactile graphics revised: the novel brailledis 9000 pin-matrix device with multitouch input. Computers HelpingPeople with Special Needs, pages 835-842, 2008. Google ScholarDigital Library
- F.-H.Yeh and S.-H. Liang. Mechanism designof the flapper actuator in chinese braille display. Sensors and Actuators A: Physical, 135(2):680-689, 2007.Google ScholarCross Ref
- W.Yu,R. Ramloll, andS. Brewster. Haptic graphs for blind computer users. In Haptic human-computer interaction, pages 41-51. Springer, 2001. Google ScholarDigital Library
- L. Zeng andG.Weber. Audio-haptic browser fora geographical information system. Computers HelpingPeople with Special Needs, pages 466-473, 2010. Google ScholarDigital Library
- L. Zeng andG.Weber. Atmap: annotated tactile maps for the visually impaired. In Cognitive Behavioural Systems, pages 290-298. Springer, 2012. Google ScholarDigital Library
Index Terms
- FluxMarker: Enhancing Tactile Graphics with Dynamic Tactile Markers
Recommendations
BotMap: Non-Visual Panning and Zooming with an Actuated Tabletop Tangible Interface
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 ...
Assisting people with visual impairments in aiming at a target on a large wall-mounted display
Large interactive displays have become ubiquitous in our everyday lives, but these displays are designed for the needs of sighted people. In this paper, we specifically address assisting people with visual impairments to aim at a target on a large wall-...
Keep in Touch: Combining Touch Interaction with Thumb-to-Finger µGestures for People with Visual Impairment
ICMI '22: Proceedings of the 2022 International Conference on Multimodal InteractionWe present a set of 8 thumb-to-finger microgestures (TTF µGestures) that can be used as an additional modality to enrich touch interaction in eyes-free situations. TTF µGestures possess characteristics especially suited for people with visual impairment ...
Comments