Exploring Low-Cost Grid-based Tactile Instruments for Understanding and Reproducing Shapes for People with Visual Impairments

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

While tools exist for blind people to understand shapes, these are not commercially available nor affordable and often require the assistance of sighted people. Thus, we designed two low-cost grid-based tactile tools using toggle buttons (TogGrid) and cotton balls (CottonGrid). To assess the potential of these as an educational tool, we conducted a user study with 12 people with visual impairments where they were asked to understand and reproduce shapes under different conditions. Although CottonGrid is relatively cheap and easy to make, findings show that TogGrid was perceived to be better in terms of perceived easiness, task completion time, accuracy, and preference in general. Particularly, participants valued TogGrid for enabling them to identify and correct errors. Based on the findings, we provide implications for utilizing toggle buttons for designing educational instruments for learning and expressing shapes for blind people.