The Experts below are selected from a list of 360 Experts worldwide ranked by ideXlab platform
Christophe Jouffrais - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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interactive audio tactile maps for Visually Impaired People
arXiv: Human-Computer Interaction, 2015Co-Authors: Anke Brock, Christophe JouffraisAbstract:Visually Impaired People face important challenges related to orientation and mobility. Indeed, 56% of Visually Impaired People in France declared having problems concerning autonomous mobility. These problems often mean that Visually Impaired People travel less, which influences their personal and professional life and can lead to exclusion from society. Therefore this issue presents a social challenge as well as an important research area. Accessible geographic maps are helpful for acquiring knowledge about a city's or neighborhood's configuration, as well as selecting a route to reach a destination. Traditionally, raised-line paper maps with braille text have been used. These maps have proved to be efficient for the acquisition of spatial knowledge by Visually Impaired People. Yet, these maps possess significant limitations. For instance, due to the specificities of the tactile sense only a limited amount of information can be displayed on a single map, which dramatically increases the number of maps that are needed. For the same reason, it is difficult to represent specific information such as distances. Finally, braille labels are used for textual descriptions but only a small percentage of the Visually Impaired population reads braille. In France 15% of blind People are braille readers and only 10% can read and write. In the United States, fewer than 10% of the legally blind People are braille readers and only 10% of blind children actually learn braille. Recent technological advances have enabled the design of interactive maps with the aim to overcome these limitations. Indeed, interactive maps have the potential to provide a broad spectrum of the population with spatial knowledge, irrespective of age, impairment, skill level, or other factors. To this regard, they might be an efficient means for providing Visually Impaired People with access to geospatial information. In this paper we give an overview of our research on making geographic maps accessible to Visually Impaired People.
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interactive audio tactile maps for Visually Impaired People
ACM Sigaccess Accessibility and Computing, 2015Co-Authors: Anke Brock, Christophe JouffraisAbstract:Visually Impaired People face important challenges related to orientation and mobility. Indeed, 56% of Visually Impaired People in France declared having problems concerning autonomous mobility [10]. These problems often mean that Visually Impaired People travel less, which influences their personal and professional life and can lead to exclusion from society [28]. Therefore this issue presents a social challenge as well as an important research area. Accessible geographic maps are helpful for acquiring knowledge about a city's or neighborhood's configuration, as well as selecting a route to reach a destination. Traditionally, raised-line paper maps with braille text have been used. These maps have proved to be efficient for the acquisition of spatial knowledge by Visually Impaired People. Yet, these maps possess significant limitations [37]. For instance, due to the specificities of the tactile sense only a limited amount of information can be displayed on a single map, which dramatically increases the number of maps that are needed. For the same reason, it is difficult to represent specific information such as distances. Finally, braille labels are used for textual descriptions but only a small percentage of the Visually Impaired population reads braille. In France 15% of blind People are braille readers and only 10% can read and write [10]. In the United States, fewer than 10% of the legally blind People are braille readers and only 10% of blind children actually learn braille [24].
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Interactivity Improves Usability of Geographic Maps for Visually Impaired People
Human-Computer Interaction, 2015Co-Authors: Anke Brock, Philippe Truillet, Bernard Oriola, Delphine Picard, Christophe JouffraisAbstract: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 had 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 vs. an interactive map composed by a multi-touch 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.
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Map design for Visually Impaired People: past, present, and future research
MEI - Médiation et information, 2013Co-Authors: Anke Brock, Christophe Jouffrais, Philippe Truillet, Bernard Oriola, Delphine PicardAbstract:Orientation and mobility are amongst the most important challenges for Visually Impaired People. Tactile maps can provide them with spatial knowledge of their environment, thereby reducing fear related to travelling in space. To date, raised-line paper maps have been used to make geographic information accessible, but these paper maps have significant limitations with regards to content and the presentation of information. Recent advances in technology may help to design usable interactive maps that overcome such limitations. In this paper, we first review different accessible map concepts. We then present our design of an interactive map prototype, and provide evidence of this interactive map’s high user satisfaction and efficiency as compared to a regular raised-line paper map. To conclude, we suggest that advances in interactive technologies (e.g., haptic touch surfaces) provide a unique opportunity to design usable maps in the near future.
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design and user satisfaction of interactive maps for Visually Impaired People
arXiv: Human-Computer Interaction, 2012Co-Authors: Anke Brock, Philippe Truillet, Bernard Oriola, Delphine Picard, Christophe JouffraisAbstract:Multimodal interactive maps are a solution for presenting spatial information to Visually Impaired People. In this paper, we present an interactive multimodal map prototype that is based on a tactile paper map, a multi-touch screen and audio output. We first describe the different steps for designing an interactive map: drawing and printing the tactile paper map, choice of multi-touch technology, interaction technologies and the software architecture. Then we describe the method used to assess user satisfaction. We provide data showing that an interactive map - although based on a unique, elementary, double tap interaction - has been met with a high level of user satisfaction. Interestingly, satisfaction is independent of a user's age, previous visual experience or Braille experience. This prototype will be used as a platform to design advanced interactions for spatial learning.
Anke Brock - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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interactive audio tactile maps for Visually Impaired People
arXiv: Human-Computer Interaction, 2015Co-Authors: Anke Brock, Christophe JouffraisAbstract:Visually Impaired People face important challenges related to orientation and mobility. Indeed, 56% of Visually Impaired People in France declared having problems concerning autonomous mobility. These problems often mean that Visually Impaired People travel less, which influences their personal and professional life and can lead to exclusion from society. Therefore this issue presents a social challenge as well as an important research area. Accessible geographic maps are helpful for acquiring knowledge about a city's or neighborhood's configuration, as well as selecting a route to reach a destination. Traditionally, raised-line paper maps with braille text have been used. These maps have proved to be efficient for the acquisition of spatial knowledge by Visually Impaired People. Yet, these maps possess significant limitations. For instance, due to the specificities of the tactile sense only a limited amount of information can be displayed on a single map, which dramatically increases the number of maps that are needed. For the same reason, it is difficult to represent specific information such as distances. Finally, braille labels are used for textual descriptions but only a small percentage of the Visually Impaired population reads braille. In France 15% of blind People are braille readers and only 10% can read and write. In the United States, fewer than 10% of the legally blind People are braille readers and only 10% of blind children actually learn braille. Recent technological advances have enabled the design of interactive maps with the aim to overcome these limitations. Indeed, interactive maps have the potential to provide a broad spectrum of the population with spatial knowledge, irrespective of age, impairment, skill level, or other factors. To this regard, they might be an efficient means for providing Visually Impaired People with access to geospatial information. In this paper we give an overview of our research on making geographic maps accessible to Visually Impaired People.
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interactive audio tactile maps for Visually Impaired People
ACM Sigaccess Accessibility and Computing, 2015Co-Authors: Anke Brock, Christophe JouffraisAbstract:Visually Impaired People face important challenges related to orientation and mobility. Indeed, 56% of Visually Impaired People in France declared having problems concerning autonomous mobility [10]. These problems often mean that Visually Impaired People travel less, which influences their personal and professional life and can lead to exclusion from society [28]. Therefore this issue presents a social challenge as well as an important research area. Accessible geographic maps are helpful for acquiring knowledge about a city's or neighborhood's configuration, as well as selecting a route to reach a destination. Traditionally, raised-line paper maps with braille text have been used. These maps have proved to be efficient for the acquisition of spatial knowledge by Visually Impaired People. Yet, these maps possess significant limitations [37]. For instance, due to the specificities of the tactile sense only a limited amount of information can be displayed on a single map, which dramatically increases the number of maps that are needed. For the same reason, it is difficult to represent specific information such as distances. Finally, braille labels are used for textual descriptions but only a small percentage of the Visually Impaired population reads braille. In France 15% of blind People are braille readers and only 10% can read and write [10]. In the United States, fewer than 10% of the legally blind People are braille readers and only 10% of blind children actually learn braille [24].
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Interactivity Improves Usability of Geographic Maps for Visually Impaired People
Human-Computer Interaction, 2015Co-Authors: Anke Brock, Philippe Truillet, Bernard Oriola, Delphine Picard, Christophe JouffraisAbstract: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 had 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 vs. an interactive map composed by a multi-touch 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.
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Map design for Visually Impaired People: past, present, and future research
MEI - Médiation et information, 2013Co-Authors: Anke Brock, Christophe Jouffrais, Philippe Truillet, Bernard Oriola, Delphine PicardAbstract:Orientation and mobility are amongst the most important challenges for Visually Impaired People. Tactile maps can provide them with spatial knowledge of their environment, thereby reducing fear related to travelling in space. To date, raised-line paper maps have been used to make geographic information accessible, but these paper maps have significant limitations with regards to content and the presentation of information. Recent advances in technology may help to design usable interactive maps that overcome such limitations. In this paper, we first review different accessible map concepts. We then present our design of an interactive map prototype, and provide evidence of this interactive map’s high user satisfaction and efficiency as compared to a regular raised-line paper map. To conclude, we suggest that advances in interactive technologies (e.g., haptic touch surfaces) provide a unique opportunity to design usable maps in the near future.
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design and user satisfaction of interactive maps for Visually Impaired People
arXiv: Human-Computer Interaction, 2012Co-Authors: Anke Brock, Philippe Truillet, Bernard Oriola, Delphine Picard, Christophe JouffraisAbstract:Multimodal interactive maps are a solution for presenting spatial information to Visually Impaired People. In this paper, we present an interactive multimodal map prototype that is based on a tactile paper map, a multi-touch screen and audio output. We first describe the different steps for designing an interactive map: drawing and printing the tactile paper map, choice of multi-touch technology, interaction technologies and the software architecture. Then we describe the method used to assess user satisfaction. We provide data showing that an interactive map - although based on a unique, elementary, double tap interaction - has been met with a high level of user satisfaction. Interestingly, satisfaction is independent of a user's age, previous visual experience or Braille experience. This prototype will be used as a platform to design advanced interactions for spatial learning.
Yingli Tian - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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Assistive Clothing Pattern Recognition for Visually Impaired People
IEEE Transactions on Human-Machine Systems, 2014Co-Authors: Xiaodong Yang, S. Sakthimani, C. Hemalatha, Shuai Yuan, Yingli TianAbstract:Choosing clothes with complex patterns and colors is a challenging task for Visually Impaired People. Automatic clothing pattern recognition is also a challenging research problem due to rotation, scaling, illumination, and especially large intraclass pattern variations. We have developed a camera-based prototype system that recognizes clothing patterns in four categories (plaid, striped, patternless, and irregular) and identifies 11 clothing colors. The system integrates a camera, a microphone, a computer, and a Bluetooth earpiece for audio description of clothing patterns and colors. A camera mounted upon a pair of sunglasses is used to capture clothing images. The clothing patterns and colors are described to blind users verbally. This system can be controlled by speech input through microphone. To recognize clothing patterns, we propose a novel Radon Signature descriptor and a schema to extract statistical properties from wavelet subbands to capture global features of clothing patterns. They are combined with local features to recognize complex clothing patterns. To evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed approach, we used the CCNY Clothing Pattern dataset. Our approach achieves 92.55% recognition accuracy which significantly outperforms the state-of-the-art texture analysis methods on clothing pattern recognition. The prototype was also used by ten Visually Impaired participants. Most thought such a system would support more independence in their daily life but they also made suggestions for improvements.
Joan Garciaharo - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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design implementation and evaluation of an indoor navigation system for Visually Impaired People
Sensors, 2015Co-Authors: Alejandro Santos Martinezsala, Fernando Losilla, Juan Carlos Sanchezaarnoutse, Joan GarciaharoAbstract:Indoor navigation is a challenging task for Visually Impaired People. Although there are guidance systems available for such purposes, they have some drawbacks that hamper their direct application in real-life situations. These systems are either too complex, inaccurate, or require very special conditions (i.e., rare in everyday life) to operate. In this regard, Ultra-Wideband (UWB) technology has been shown to be effective for indoor positioning, providing a high level of accuracy and low installation complexity. This paper presents SUGAR, an indoor navigation system for Visually Impaired People which uses UWB for positioning, a spatial database of the environment for pathfinding through the application of the A* algorithm, and a guidance module. The interaction with the user takes place using acoustic signals and voice commands played through headphones. The suitability of the system for indoor navigation has been verified by means of a functional and usable prototype through a field test with a blind person. In addition, other tests have been conducted in order to show the accuracy of different relevant parts of the system.
Fatma Kalaoglu - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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Wearable obstacle detection system fully integrated to textile structures for Visually Impaired People
Sensors and Actuators A-physical, 2012Co-Authors: Senem Kursun Bahadir, Vladan Koncar, Fatma KalaogluAbstract:Abstract In this study, an innovative wearable obstacle detection system fully integrated to textile structures, which enables detection of obstacles for Visually Impaired People, has been developed. In order to guide Visually Impaired People safely and quickly among obstacles, an innovative approach based on integration of electronics onto textiles has been studied. Adaptation of sensor and actuator methodology to textile structures has been realized. Finally, smart clothing prototype including ultrasonic sensors, vibration motors, power supplies and a microcontroller has been developed. The working principle of the system is based on two main functions: sensing the surrounding environment as well as detection of obstacles via sonar sensors and guiding the user by actuators by using a novel control algorithm based on a neuro-fuzzy controller implemented to a processing unit. This system is able to identify obstacle's position within the detection range. It is capable of detecting obstacle's position accurately. It is easily worn as a garment that is flexible, lightweight and comfortable for human body as well as washable. The proposed smart clothing system could become united part of Visually Impaired People's lifestyle, and it could help them overcome navigation concerns seamlessly, without imposing upon them any physical or cognitive load.
