A Dynamic Display and Display Method for Textured Enhanced Graphics for Individuals who are Blind or Visually Impaired

Pawluk0754629物体和场景的图形视觉表示对于传达陌生信息一直很重要：从教孩子新词汇，到向工人介绍新机器或设备，再到了解一个遥远的城市去度假。这些表示在创造性环境中也是非常有价值的，例如当工匠必须想象设计模式或设计他们正在开发的新设备时。不幸的是，对于失明或视力受损的个人来说，缺乏工具和适当的表示来为他们提供对这种类型的图形信息的访问，而这种类型的图形信息在他们的环境中通常是可用的。这种缺乏接触机会的情况从很小的时候就开始影响这些人，并在他们的一生中逐渐发展。这可能至少在一定程度上解释了盲人或视障人士失业率高达74%的原因，这远远高于其他残疾人的失业率。对于盲人或视障人士来说，表示二维图形信息最常见的方法是使用静态凸起线条。然而，这种方法在不受约束的任务中传递信息的能力很差，例如理解不熟悉的对象和对象场景。最近，一种更有效的、纹理丰富的图形表示被提出作为替代方案。这种方法使用纹理来编码关键的图片信息(即，将对象分成它们的子部分，以及它们部分的方向)，否则很难获得这些信息。该建议的总体目标是开发一种系统，通过开发：(1)能够呈现一系列纹理的具有成本效益的、便携的和易于维护的动态触觉设备；以及(2)用于编码目的的适当的纹理集，其即使在触觉掩蔽和适配效果下也最大化其辨别能力，从而最大限度地利用这些纹理丰富的图形来最大限度地传递信息。该设备和纹理都将被设计为保持纹理丰富的图形相对于凸起线条画的优势，即能够立即提供接触(通过纹理)和跨手指并行的编码信息，同时避免静态生产方法的成本和体积。展示和纹理设置也将根据盲人或视障人士社区的反馈进行开发，并通过实验进行验证。拟议的研究将有助于通过几个组织，在国际盲人协会和盲人或视障人士社区及其教师之间建立积极的伙伴关系。皮？S实验室将进一步发展为一个盲人或视障学生可以有效地从事研究的地方，无论是这个项目还是其他任何项目。该项目还将包括对研究生和本科生进行培训，以了解盲人或视障人士社区的需求。

Pawluk0754629Graphical visual representations of objects and scenes have always been important for conveying unfamiliar information: from teaching a young child new vocabulary words, to introducing a worker to new machinery or devices, to learning about a faraway city to go to on vacation. These representations are also very valuable in creative environments, such as when artisans must imagine design patterns or engineers new devices they are developing. Unfortunately, for individuals who are blind or visually impaired, there are a dearth of tools and appropriate representations to provide them with access to this type of graphical information, which is commonly available in their environments. This lack of access affects these individuals beginning at a very young age and progresses cumulatively over their lifetime. It likely explains, at least in part, the very high unemployment rate of 74% for individuals who are blind or visually impaired, which is significantly above the rate for those with other disabilities. The most frequent method of representing 2-D graphical information for individuals who are blind or visually impaired is the use of static raised-line drawings. However, this method is very poor in relaying information in unconstrained tasks, such as understanding unfamiliar objects and object scenes. More recently, a more effective, textured-enriched graphical representation has been proposed as an alternative. This method uses texture to encode critical picture information (i.e., the separation of objects into their subparts, and the orientation of their parts) that is otherwise very difficult to obtain. The general objective of this proposal is to develop a system to maximize the transfer of information using these textured-enriched graphics by developing: (1) a cost-effective, portable and easy to maintain dynamic tactile device capable of presenting a range of textures; and (2) an appropriate texture set to use on the device for encoding purposes, which maximizes its discriminability even under tactile masking and adaptation effects. Both the device and the textures will be designed to maintain the advantages of texture enriched graphics, over raised-line drawings, of being able to immediately provide encoded information on contact (through texture) and in parallel across the fingers, while avoiding the costs and bulkiness of static production methods. The display and texture set will also be developed with feedback from the community of people who are blind or visually impaired, and validated experimentally. The proposed research will assist in the development of an active partnership between the PI and the community of people who are blind or visually impaired, and their teachers, through several organizations. The PI?s laboratory will further be developed as a place where students who are blind or visually impaired can effectively engage in research, whether for this project or any other. This project will also include training of both graduate and undergraduate students in understanding the needs of the community of people who are blind or visually impaired.