Co-Designing Auditory Navigation Solutions for Traveling as a Blind Individual During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

A group co-design was held in March 2021 with six blind and low-vision individuals (BLIs) from the United States. Participants were asked to discuss problems related to travel during the COVID-19 pandemic and make recommendations for possible solutions. Two probes (prototypes) of a non-visual neighborhood travel map and a non-visual COVID-19 choropleth map (a map using colors or sounds over each state to represent different values) of COVID-19 state data were shown to participants for inspiration. The participants expressed that COVID-19 had significantly increased their apprehension and discomfort associated with activities such as venturing outside, traveling, engaging with strangers, communicating, adapting to changes in familiar environments, and wearing masks. Participants gravitated towards the need for information the probes provided, and made a number of observations and recommendations for improvement. They wanted more detailed geo-referenced COVID-19 data (including by county), information related to voting, a mobile app, and more detailed building information, such as doors on the travel map.

Non-Visual Access to an Interactive 3D Map.

Maps are indispensable for helping people learn about unfamiliar environments and plan trips. While tactile (2D) and 3D maps offer non-visual map access to people who are blind or visually impaired (BVI), this access is greatly enhanced by adding interactivity to the maps: when the user points at a feature of interest on the map, the name and other information about the feature is read aloud in audio. We explore how the use of an interactive 3D map of a playground, containing over seventy play structures and other features, affects spatial learning and cognition. Specifically, we perform experiments in which four blind participants answer questions about the map to evaluate their grasp of three types of spatial knowledge: landmark, route and survey. The results of these experiments demonstrate that participants are able to acquire this knowledge, most of which would be inaccessible without the interactivity of the map.

EVALUATION OF A NON-VISUAL AUDITORY CHOROPLETH AND TRAVEL MAP VIEWER.

The auditory virtual reality interface of Audiom, a web-based map viewer, was evaluated by thirteen blind participants. In Audiom, the user is an avatar that navigates, using the arrow keys, through geographic data, as if they are playing a first-person, egocentric game. The research questions were: What will make blind users want to use Audiom maps? And Can participants demonstrate basic acquisition of spatial knowledge after viewing an auditory map? A dynamic choropleth map of state-level US COVID-19 data, and a detailed OpenStreetMap powered travel map, were evaluated. All participants agreed they wanted more maps of all kinds, in particular county-level COVID data, and they would use Audiom once some bugs were fixed and their few recommended features were added. Everyone wanted to see Audiom embedded in their existing travel and mapping applications. All participants were able to answer a question evaluating spatial knowledge. Participants also agreed this spatial information was not available in existing applications.

Getting in Touch With Tactile Map Automated Production: Evaluating impact and areas for improvement.

This study evaluated the impact the Tactile Maps Automated Production (TMAP) system has had on its blind and visually impaired (BVI) and Orientation and Mobility (O&M) users and obtained suggestions for improvement. A semi-structured interview was performed with six BVI and seven O&M TMAP users who had printed or ordered two or more TMAPs in the last year. The number of maps downloaded from the online TMAP generation platform was also reviewed for each participant. The most significant finding is that having access to TMAPs increased map usage for BVIs from less than 1 map a year to getting at least two maps from the order system, with those who had easy access to an embosser generating on average 18.33 TMAPs from the online system and saying they embossed 42 maps on average at home or work. O&Ms appreciated the quick, high-quality, and scaled map they could create and send home with their students, and they frequently used TMAPs with their braille reading students. To improve TMAPs, users requested that the following features be added: interactivity, greater customizability of TMAPs, viewing of transit stops, lower cost of the ordered TMAP, and nonvisual viewing of the digital TMAP on the online platform.

An Audio-Based 3D Spatial Guidance AR System for Blind Users.

Augmented reality (AR) has great potential for blind users because it enables a range of applications that provide audio information about specific locations or directions in the user's environment. For instance, the CamIO ("Camera Input-Output") AR app makes physical objects (such as documents, maps, devices and 3D models) accessible to blind and visually impaired persons by providing real-time audio feedback in response to the location on an object that the user is touching (using an inexpensive stylus). An important feature needed by blind users of AR apps such as CamIO is a 3D spatial guidance feature that provides real-time audio feedback to help the user find a desired location on an object. We have devised a simple audio interface to provide verbal guidance towards a target of interest in 3D. The experiment we report with blind participants using this guidance interface demonstrates the feasibility of the approach and its benefit for helping users find locations of interest.

Towards Accessible Audio Labeling of 3D Objects.

We describe a new approach to audio labeling of 3D objects such as appliances, 3D models and maps that enables a visually impaired person to audio label objects. Our approach to audio labeling is called CamIO, a smartphone app that issues audio labels when the user points to a hotspot (a location of interest on an object) with a handheld stylus viewed by the smartphone camera. The CamIO app allows a user to create a new hotspot location by pointing at the location with a second stylus and recording a personalized audio label for the hotspot. In contrast with other audio labeling approaches that require the object of interest to be constructed of special materials, 3D printed, or equipped with special sensors, CamIO works with virtually any rigid object and requires only a smartphone, a paper barcode pattern mounted to the object of interest, and two inexpensive styluses. Moreover, our approach allows a visually impaired user to create audio labels independently. We describe a co-design performed with six blind participants exploring how they label objects in their daily lives and a study with the participants demonstrating the feasibility of CamIO for providing accessible audio labeling.

DESIGN AND EVALUATION OF AN AUDIO GAME-INSPIRED AUDITORY MAP INTERFACE.

This study evaluated a web-based auditory map prototype built utilizing conventions found in audio games and presents findings from a set of tasks participants performed with the prototype. The prototype allowed participants to use their own computer and screen reader, contrary to most studies, which restrict use to a single platform and a self-voicing feature (providing a voice that talks by default). There were three major findings from the tasks: the interface was extremely easy to learn and navigate, participants all had unique navigational styles and preferred using their own screen reader, and participants needed user interface features that made it easier to understand and answer questions about spatial properties and relationships. Participants gave an average task load score of 39 from the NASA Task Load Index and gave a confidence level of 46/100 for actually using the prototype to physically navigate.