Haptic reassurance in the pitch black for an immersive theatre experience

Abstract

An immersive theatre experience was designed to raise awareness and question perceptions of 'blindness', through enabling both sighted and blind members to experience a similar reality. A multimodal experience was created, comprising ambient sounds and narratives -heard through headphones -and an assortment of themed tactile objects, intended to be felt. In addition, audience members were each provided with a novel haptic device that was designed to enhance their discovery of a pitch-black space. An in the wild study of the cultural experience showed how blind and sighted audience members had different 'felt' experiences, but that neither was a lesser one. Furthermore, the haptic device was found to encourage enactive exploration and provide reassurance of the environment for both sighted and blind people, rather than acting simply as a navigation guide. We discuss the potential of using haptic feedback to create cultural experiences for both blind and sighted people; rethinking current utilitarian framing of it as assistive technology.

A Survey of the Trajectories Conceptual Framework

“…Interestingly, one of these [59] uses their review to identify a gap in literature, suggesting the lack of bridges between networked music performance and trajectories and similar work. We identified one paper where trajectories served no other purpose in our coding [69], with a review of mixed reality performances mentioning the 2009 paper mainly to cover Blast Theory's works, but also quickly describing trajectories as the outcome of these studies. A common way of presenting the analysis of trajectories is to draw diagrams showing how an experience unfolds, found in 7 papers.…”

First validation of the Haptic Sandwich: A shape changing handheld haptic navigation aid

“…We define shape as the contours of the device body, Fig 2: The Haptic Sandwich device held in hand as perceived by a holder's sense of touch [10]. This is a continuation of the author's previous work on the Haptic Lotus handheld navigation device [2], which expanded as the user approached a target destination. This physical representation of proximity permitted a target to be found while also encouraging active exploration of the environment (the device was developed for the immersive art installation).…”

“…GPS responsive audio guides and 'sound walks' are examples of linking user location to dramatic experience [1]. The immersive theatre installation 'The Question', explored the use of a handheld haptic navigation device (The Haptic Lotus) in a pitch black environment as a form of sensory augmentation [2]. This was to investigate the potential for equivalent cultural experiences between sighted and visually impaired individuals.…”

Towards Deeper Understanding of User Experience with Ubiquitous Computing Systems: Systematic Literature Review and Design Framework

“…In their study of an interactive theatre experience for the blind and sighted, van der Linden et al [36] had 96 participants explore the theatre space blindfolded, enhanced with a haptic mobile device. In regard to UX, they conclude that the participants' responses to the overall immersive experience were very positive, for example related to surprises while interacting in the space.…”