full Paper - Nguyen Dang Binh

EUROGRAPHICS 2005 Tutorial
Computer Graphics Access for Blind People through a Haptic
and Audio Virtual Environment
Abstract
C.A. Avizzano, S. Marcheschi, M. Bergamasco, PERCRO, Scuola Superiore S. Anna
R. Iglesias, S. Casado, T. Gutiérrez, J.I. Barbero, Fundación Labein
This paper describes a new Haptic & Audio Virtual Environment to allow blind and visually impaired people to
have access to the three-dimensional graphic computer world through the sense of touch (using a new dual-£nger
haptic interface) and augmented by audio input and voice commands. Such system has been developed within the
European project ”GRAB”. The new system provides an integrated platform for the design and development of
audio-haptic applications in different £elds (architecture, art, aeronautics, medicine,..) as well as their fruition in
a realtime interactive manner. In order to demonstrate the validity of the approach, the project was speci£cally
focused on the development of three applications selected for their promising positive impact on the life quality
of visual impaired people: an adventure game, a city map explorer and a chart explorer. Both the new environment
and the new applications were tested by visually impaired people with different pro£les (congenitally blind
people, advantageously blind people, partially sighted people,..) to evaluate the usefulness and potential of these
developments. The results of this validation con£rm the validity of the system. Overall, it seems the GRAB system
is feasible for these kinds of applications, although some features require some adjustments to create future usable
tools.
Keywords Haptic desktop system, Of£ce Automation
1. Introduction
The convergence of Information Society Technologies (IST)
and markets is leading to new products and services that are
increasingly transforming our lives. The impact of IST on
every-day’s activity is also raising people’s expectations for
a better quality of life. As technology is becoming part of
our normal surroundings, new tools provide individuals with
powerful means to express ideas and develop their creativity
for professional use or for leisure. However, some collectives
need the development of speci£c tools to facilitate the access
of these citizens to the full range of IST applications. To address
accessibility issues, interfaces between the information
source and the end user have to be accessible as well. In the
last few years the software industry, spurred on by legislation
in both Europe and the United States, has become increasingly
aware of the need to design for all, including people
with disabilities. As a result, access for blind and visually
impaired users to important software is gradually improving.
Some of the obstacles that impede visually impaired people
to have access to the IST applications are being solved with
c○ The Eurographics Association 2005.
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the use of: screen reader software, voice synthesis, speech
recognition, Braille and tactile displays, ³E However there are
inaccessible £elds yet for them such as the access to the 3D
computer graphics and their multiple applications (learning,
training entertainment systems, working tools, ³E).
Currently, many researchers are exploring the potential of
using innovative haptic interaction mechanisms that exploit
the sense of touch as a substitute for vision. Haptic sensing is
de£ned as the use of motor behaviours in combination with
touch to identify objects [1]. Many of the haptic interfaces
that have been developed in recent years use one-point haptic
interaction with the virtual world. In several experiments, it
has been shown possible to use these Haptic interfaces alone
to recognize basic shapes and textures ([2],[3]). A wide set
of applications has been develop to show the added value
that the HIs can provide to user with different levels of disabilities
([4],[5], [6],[7],[8]). At present HIs combined with
sound feedback [13] have been used to interact with 3D virtual
objects in several manners: mathematical graphs[9], diagrams
and maps ([10],[11]), and fairly complex environ