Design of a “Cobot Tactile Display” for Accessing Virtual Diagrams by Blind and Visually Impaired Users

Gill, Satinder; Pawluk, Dianne T. V.

doi:10.3390/s22124468

Cited by 3 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 23 publications

(44 reference statements)

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“…The tactile Rolodex or codex prototypes are not as dynamic as a refreshable tactile display (45)(46)(47)(48)(49). However, the resolution of the lithophane images is higher than current tactile displays.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Universal pictures: A lithophane codex helps teenagers with blindness visualize nanoscopic systems

Alonzo,

Lato,

Gonzalez

et al. 2024

Sci. Adv.

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People with blindness have limited access to the high-resolution graphical data and imagery of science. Here, a lithophane codex is reported. Its pages display tactile and optical readouts for universal visualization of data by persons with or without eyesight. Prototype codices illustrated microscopy of butterfly chitin—from N -acetylglucosamine monomer to fibril, scale, and whole insect—and were given to high schoolers from the Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired. Lithophane graphics of Fischer-Spier esterification reactions and electron micrographs of biological cells were also 3D-printed, along with x-ray structures of proteins (as millimeter-scale 3D models). Students with blindness could visualize (describe, recall, distinguish) these systems—for the first time—at the same resolution as sighted peers (average accuracy = 88%). Tactile visualization occurred alongside laboratory training, synthesis, and mentoring by chemists with blindness, resulting in increased student interest and sense of belonging in science.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Universal pictures: A lithophane codex helps teenagers with blindness visualize nanoscopic systems

Alonzo,

Lato,

Gonzalez

et al. 2024

Sci. Adv.

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“…Another work [ 68 ] presents the design of a tactile display for BVI individuals to access virtual diagrams. The system utilizes a compact robot base with Omni-wheels that enables seamless and unrestricted movements in a two-dimensional space.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Multi-Sensor Data Fusion Solutions for Blind and Visually Impaired: Research and Commercial Navigation Applications for Indoor and Outdoor Spaces

Theodorou

Tsiligkos

Μηλιώνης

2023

Sensors

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Several assistive technology solutions, targeting the group of Blind and Visually Impaired (BVI), have been proposed in the literature utilizing multi-sensor data fusion techniques. Furthermore, several commercial systems are currently being used in real-life scenarios by BVI individuals. However, given the rate by which new publications are made, the available review studies become quickly outdated. Moreover, there is no comparative study regarding the multi-sensor data fusion techniques between those found in the research literature and those being used in the commercial applications that many BVI individuals trust to complete their everyday activities. The objective of this study is to classify the available multi-sensor data fusion solutions found in the research literature and the commercial applications, conduct a comparative study between the most popular commercial applications (Blindsquare, Lazarillo, Ariadne GPS, Nav by ViaOpta, Seeing Assistant Move) regarding the supported features as well as compare the two most popular ones (Blindsquare and Lazarillo) with the BlindRouteVision application, developed by the authors, from the standpoint of Usability and User Experience (UX) through field testing. The literature review of sensor-fusion solutions highlights the trends of utilizing computer vision and deep learning techniques, the comparison of the commercial applications reveals their features, strengths, and weaknesses while Usability and UX demonstrate that BVI individuals are willing to sacrifice a wealth of features for more reliable navigation.

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“…Surprisingly, there was never an instance where the participants misinterpreted one of these commands with a sequence of three commands (i.e., rotate, move, and rotate). This issue could be resolved, though, by using an omni-wheeled robot [42] which can move in any direction without changing orientation.…”

Section: Discussion and Future Workmentioning

confidence: 99%

Kinesthetic Feedback for Understanding Program Execution

Gill

Goolsby

Pawluk

2023

Sensors

Self Cite

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To better prepare future generations, knowledge about computers and programming are one of the many skills that are part of almost all Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematic programs; however, teaching and learning programming is a complex task that is generally considered difficult by students and teachers alike. One approach to engage and inspire students from a variety of backgrounds is the use of educational robots. Unfortunately, previous research presents mixed results on the effectiveness of educational robots on student learning. One possibility for this lack of clarity may be because students have a wide variety of styles of learning. It is possible that the use of kinesthetic feedback, in addition to the normally used visual feedback, may improve learning with educational robots by providing a richer, multi-modal experience that may appeal to a larger number of students with different learning styles. It is also possible, however, that the addition of kinesthetic feedback, and how it may interfere with the visual feedback, may decrease a student’s ability to interpret the program commands being executed by a robot, which is critical for program debugging. In this work, we investigated whether human participants were able to accurately determine a sequence of program commands performed by a robot when both kinesthetic and visual feedback were being used together. Command recall and end point location determination were compared to the typically used visual-only method, as well as a narrative description. Results from 10 sighted participants indicated that individuals were able to accurately determine a sequence of movement commands and their magnitude when using combined kinesthetic + visual feedback. Participants’ recall accuracy of program commands was actually better with kinesthetic + visual feedback than just visual feedback. Although the recall accuracy was even better with the narrative description, this was primarily due to participants confusing an absolute rotation command with a relative rotation command with the kinesthetic + visual feedback. Participants’ zone location accuracy of the end point after a command was executed was significantly better for both the kinesthetic + visual feedback and narrative methods compared to the visual-only method. Together, these results suggest that the use of both kinesthetic + visual feedback improves an individual’s ability to interpret program commands, rather than decreases it.

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Design of a “Cobot Tactile Display” for Accessing Virtual Diagrams by Blind and Visually Impaired Users

Cited by 3 publications

References 23 publications

Universal pictures: A lithophane codex helps teenagers with blindness visualize nanoscopic systems

Universal pictures: A lithophane codex helps teenagers with blindness visualize nanoscopic systems

Multi-Sensor Data Fusion Solutions for Blind and Visually Impaired: Research and Commercial Navigation Applications for Indoor and Outdoor Spaces

Kinesthetic Feedback for Understanding Program Execution

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