Accessible Real-World Tagging through Audio-Tactile Location Markers

Abstract

Real-world tagging technologies, such as RFID or visual codes, have enabled new application scenarios that foster mobile interaction with the physical world. While the application scenarios are promising for many contexts, the technologies are currently lacking accessibility. Especially blind and visually impaired people are not able to interact with tags if they are not aware of their presence. We propose audio-tactile location markers as a remedy to this problem. An audible signal leads users to the tag, which can be identified through tactile exploration. Preliminary user studies with four blindfolded subjects using an initial prototype showed the applicability of using an audible signal for locating tags.

Publication
Talk: Nordic conference on Human-computer interaction (NordiCHI'08), Lund, Sweden; 10-20-2008 - 10-22-2008; in: “Proceedings of the Nordic conference on Human-computer interaction”, (2008), ISBN: 978-1-59593-704-9
Thomas Grechenig
Thomas Grechenig
Ao.Univ.Prof. Dipl.-Ing. Dr.techn.
Christoph Wimmer
Projektass. Dipl.-Ing.