Tangible Reels: Construction and Exploration of Tangible Maps by Visually Impaired Users

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This is an author-deposited version published in :

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Eprints ID : 16887

The contribution was presented at CHI 2016 :

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To cite this version :

Ducasse, Julie and Macé, Marc and Serrano, Marcos

and Jouffrais, Christophe Tangible Reels: Construction and Exploration of

Tangible Maps by Visually Impaired Users. (2016) In: SIGCHI

Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI 2016), 7 May

2016 - 12 May 2016 (San Jose, CA, United States).

Any correspondence concerning this service should be sent to the repository

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staff-oatao@listes-diff.inp-toulouse.fr

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hese limitation h a way to co aphics on their is sense, parti teract with dig icons (i.e. ph also provide a physical for of graphs by v implemented [ ty to mathemat was a rousing f s. We intended le to visually d that allows al content that omplement exi allows dynam (with the bene striction of a is study, we physical icon omposed of a etractable reel n phicons. We a ce that enab ible map using (see Figure e is provided ectly. As each ring of a retrac two Tangible can listen to t rforming a tap ons. ain contributio d production o nstitute; 2) w e Reels, and heck that Tan

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ctable reel, lin e Reels. Durin the name of th and hold gestu

ons: 1) we repo of tactile maps we describe th report on th gible Reels a t the physic understood by a novel interfa ependently mak its evaluatio g four maps APS iety of materia ontent or data , etc. [27] Ma ntial in our da re the reader ial layout of th o map, overvie how diverse th ng cal ble nt, on as ate ble ed it h a rds ow ers der of .g. on ng-of nd ble hat to d a lly els he ser be nes ng he ure ort in he he are cal a ace ke on, of als to aps ay-to he ew he comple chose t To bet special geogra mobilit geogra CESDV provid impaire We id and han Figur orie Raised this In paper Therm hand-c heated and pe on a s and cre Each te depend student differe display usually given m are pr since version of textu produc Magne student itinerar represe magne stands route, t the tea Magne configu for exa exity of tactil to focus on the tter understand lized educati aphy lessons w ty (O&M) less aphy teacher V-IJA Institut es education ed people, fro dentified three and-crafted. re 2. a) A raised entation and mo r

d-line maps are nstitute, they ar techniques moforming cons crafted mold m in a vacuum, ermanently def special heat-se eates relief. eacher owns di ding on the ag ts. During a ent maps as th yed on a tactile y do not includ map. This num rogressively in a tactile map ns of the same

ures (1-3) each ce around 1200 ets are more o t learn an itine ry for the stu entation on a et is placed on for and lets t the students m acher can che ets are also

urations (road ample).

e graphics ca e construction a d how and why ional centers with four stude son with one st and two O& te in Toulouse and training f om early child types of map d-line map. b) A obility lessons. represent itiner e mainly used b re made with but other sists in placing made of differen

the plastic she formed. Swell nsitive paper

ifferent maps w ge, ability and

lesson, teach he amount of

e map is limite de more than fi mber can be inc ntroduced to n

p cannot be map are used h time. In the I 0 tactile docum often used by O

erary (see Figu udents, the tea magnetic bo the board, the the student tou may be asked to eck whether i used to rep crossing or co an be. In this and exploration y tactile maps a s, we obser ents, one orien tudent, and int &M instructo e, France. Thi for around 12 dhood to later ps: raised-line A wooden mode c) Magnets are aries. by geography t thermoforming techniques e g a sheet of pla nt textured pap eet is shaped b l-paper maps a that swells wh whose content visual impairm hers often ne information th ed, but also be ive different tex creased when th new textures.

readily edite to introduce a Institute, four t ments each year O&M teachers ure 2c). To prep acher builds a oard: every tim

teacher indica uch it. After w o rebuild the ro it has been u present compl onfiguration of study, we n of maps. are used in rved two ntation and terviewed a ors in the is Institute 20 visually adulthood. , magnetic el used for e used to teachers. In g or swell-exist [4]. astic upon a pers. When y the mold are printed hen heated may differ ment of the eed to use hat can be ecause they xtures on a he students However, ed, several limited set transcribers r. s to help a pare a new simplified me a new ates what it walking the oute so that understood. lex spatial f a building

We also observed a number of hand-crafted graphics made out of rope, wood, felt or cardboard. They represent geometrical concepts (shapes, open/close features, parallel/perpendicular) and O&M elements (different types of crossings and a map of the school neighborhood for example).

These observations highlight one major issue: when a map is required, it has to be “materialized” with the assistance of a sighted person, which is a time consuming process. The students cannot access digital maps immediately and independently. Furthermore, the maps that are produced this way are not interactive and not editable, which limits the way users can interact with them and hence their autonomy.

To be fully accessible for visually impaired users, maps should be available without assistance and instantly. In addition, they should be interactive and editable, so that they could support dynamic operations such as zooming, panning, annotations, as well as other advanced functions (e.g. computing distances).

RELATED WORK ON INTERACTIVE MAPS

To alleviate the aforementioned issues, different approaches relying on new technologies have been used. Zeng and Weber [31] classified the different types of interactive maps in four categories, depending on the device and interaction used. Virtual acoustic maps use verbal and non-verbal audio output to render geographical data. For example, Zhao et al. [33] presented thematic maps explored with a keyboard or a tablet and producing string pitch and spatial sound. Virtual tactile (or haptic) maps most often rely on a force-feedback device. For instance, SeaTouch [26] enables visually impaired users to explore a maritime environment relying on haptic feedback, sonification and speech synthesis. The BATS [20] or HapticRiaMaps [11] are other examples of virtual tactile map using force-feedback devices. TouchOver map [22] provides visually impaired users with a basic overview of a map layout displayed on a mobile device through vibrational and vocal feedbacks. Kane et al. [13] described complementary non-visual interaction techniques that allow finding a target on large touch screens. Audio-tactile maps consist in a raised-line paper map placed over a touch-sensitive screen that provides audio descriptions of tactile elements when touched (see [19] and [30]). In contrast to virtual acoustic and tactile maps, these maps provide multiple points of contact (potentially all the fingers), and proved to be usable for learning spatial configurations [2]. Finally, Braille maps displayed on refreshable displays are a promising approach to create interactive maps. Zeng et al. [32] used a BrailleDis 9000 tablet device consisting in a matrix of 120x60 pins that can be moved up or down. Their prototype allowed visually impaired users to explore, annotate and zoom in or out. Similarly, Schmitz and Ertl [23] used a HyperBraille to present different types of maps representing buildings or large outdoor areas. The main drawback of the virtual maps

is that they provide a single point of contact (e.g. a phantom device), which forces the user to explore the map sequentially, and mentally integrate a large amount of information through space and time. However, they do not require a raised-line map overlay and can theoretically allow panning, zooming, and dynamic updating. Refreshable displays can provide both multiple fingers exploration as well as dynamic update, but these devices are extremely expensive, and hence relatively unusual. Tangible maps for the visually impaired may present a number of advantages: they could be built autonomously using appropriate feedback, which may support learning-by-doing activities, provide multiple fingers exploration and allow dynamic updating while being affordable.

Towards tangible maps

A number of tangible user interfaces have been developed to enable sighted users to interact with a map. GeoSpace [9] is an interactive map onto which objects are placed. Their location modifies the digital map position and extent. Urp [28] allows urban planners to simulate wind flow and sunlight, and to observe their consequences on physical building models placed onto the tabletop. With the MouseHouse Table [8], users can model several arrangements of urban elements such as streets and buildings by placing paper rectangles on the table and visualizing the behavior of pedestrians.

Two devices have been specifically designed for visually impaired users. The Tangible Pathfinder [25] allows them to construct a map using small objects that represent pavements, sidewalks, etc. Audio instructions and feedback assist the user in placing the objects and exploring the map. Schneider et al. [24] designed a prototype for route construction by telling the user the length of building blocks and where to place them on a magnetic board. These devices are devoted to route or neighborhood exploration, and can hardly be adapted to other types of graphical content. In addition, to our knowledge, they have not been formally evaluated, and the construction of a tangible map by a visually impaired user on its own has not yet been demonstrated. In this study, we designed and evaluated a tabletop tangible interface that enables a visually impaired user to construct and explore different types of maps, with different levels of complexity.

The current work is in line with two other research projects [17][18]. In [17] the device provides visually impaired users with multimodal feedback to accurately place objects (called TIMMs) in order to create and modify graphs and diagrams. The authors suggest that a tactile line could be added between two TIMMs with a piece of yarn for example, but did not indicate how the user would select the correct length and could interact with the line. In [18], the device allows the exploration of line graphs and bar charts. Phicons are placed in a restricted physical grid (9x7 cells) in order to represent the top of a bar or the turning point of a linear function. Relying on an evaluation with four users,

th k f v T p to r b p p d ta o to f s c o p p I c o M I th T p a c D F g f a I u n I s ( s m D T e d a d d li li u [ he authors o knocked over d few recommen visually impair This review o points. First, alt o address som research projec by visually imp prototypes desc punctual symbo digital content angible as we other graphical o design phico fully addressed stable but may camera placed occluded by u physical grid potential locati In addition, s construction of only points. MAKING DIGIT In this section, hat should be Tangible Reel physically link and lines), an construct and e

Digital and phy

First of all, it graphics is ma fine details of adaptation proc In our system, using a simple name and two ID, a name and system does no (such as mobil sparse spatial maps. Design of the T To build the ph essential to pro different lengt appropriate too different length different length imits the num ikelihood of e used in the fiel

14][1][21]).

observed that during the expl

dations concer ed users. of the literatur though tangibl me limitations cts about auton paired users ar cribed above h ols tangible (i. ). Obviously, ll because the l representation ons that are sta d yet. The ma y be unreliable d above the ta users’ hands. M

that holds th ion, but still o such a soluti f most graphi TAL MAPS TA , we describe e made with t s (they are t ked to each oth

nd the interac xplore maps. ysical maps is important t andatory for t f an outline m cess and curve

maps are defin syntax: each p

coordinates; e d the IDs of st ot aim at the lity maps), but

configurations

Tangible Reel

hysical represen ovide the user ths. Retractab ol as their st hs. This is mor hs (e.g. pre-cut mber of requ errors. Retract ld of HCI rese the objects loration. Henc rning the desig

re highlights le user interfac s of interactiv

nomous constr e seldom. Seco have only focus e. physical and it is essentia y are mandato ns. Third, the able and reliab agnetic board . The objects a abletop, whose McGookin et e objects, wh observed uninte ion is not re cs that includ ANGIBLE the characteris the system, th tracked by th her to represe ction techniqu to know that s actile explorat must be remo es are most oft ned by a set of

oint is associat each line is ass tarting and end construction o t rather at the s such as ove s ntation of a dig r with a way t le reels appe trings can be e usable than u wool yarn suc ired steps an table reels hav earch as input d were regular e they provide gn of phicons f three importa es are promisin ve tactile map ruction of ma ond, the last tw sed on renderin d associated to l to make lin ory in maps an

question of ho ble has not be

used in [24] are tracked by e view may b

al. [18] used hich limits the

entional knock elevant for th de lines and n stics of graphi he design of th he tabletop, an nt digital poin ues designed simplification tion [4]. Henc ved during th ften straightene f points and lin ted with an ID sociated with ding points. Th of detailed ma e construction erview or met gital map, it w to draw lines eared to be e pulled out using material ch as in [17]) an nd therefore th ve already be devices (see e. rly e a for ant ng ps, aps wo ng o a nes nd ow en is y a be a eir ks. he not ics he nd nts to of ce, his ed. nes , a an he aps of tro was of an to of nd he en .g. Accord objects explore over. T was ap identifi Reels. stable system objects Figure Tangib can be infrar We trie glue do electro first tw objects filled w Figure Weight Weigh weight tests w cm hig adequa silicon track t The ba thick c then g passed (1cm. h Sucker Sucker the tab pressed and 2 c under w glued o by pull Add-on Reels also ap to and reels w ding to [18], i s to the table

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ed a number o ots, adhesive t ostatic screen p wo requirement s fulfilling the with lead calle 3). ts hts were inspire t” of the phic with a visually i gh and 4 cm w ate. To further ne O-ring was the objects wa ase and the to cardboard stron glued to the to d through a ho

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r pads can easi bletop screen, d. We used pr cm high once c which a tag ca onto the top. T ling on a small ns can be harmfu pply a strong t d make them with a lock/unlo it was also es so that a visu thout moving more importan objects by th irements for th e: easy to mov ation; identifia possible to m laced onto the

) and Sucker pa tag is positioned camera placed u lighted in blue) during explora of adhesive ma tape, Wikki Sti protectors but n ts. Finally we e requirements ed Weights, an ed by [18] who cons to ensure impaired user, wide cylinder r improve adhe added under t as placed insid op of the cylin ngly glued to th op of the cylin ook fixed at th it close to the ta

ily slide along and strongly s ofessional flat compressed) th an be attached ( The sucker pad l strip that exte

ful when the s tension to the move. Theref ock button. Be ssential to firm ally impaired them or knoc nt in our case a he retractable he design of th ve during const able and tracka maximize the

tabletop.

ads (b) are two d underneath so under a plate gl ) detects the use ation. aterials such as icks, anti-slip g none of them fu end up with tw s: small plastic nd flat Sucker o suggested “v e stability. Af we found that with 180 g o erence of the W the base. The t

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mly set the user could cking them as a tension reels. We he Tangible truction but able by the number of designs of o that they lass (d). An ers’ fingers s Blu-Tack, gel pads or fulfilled the wo types of c cylinders r pads (see varying the fter several t filling a 6 f lead was Weights, a tag used to Figure 3c). de out of a he reel was string was he cylinder ace such as creen when (4 cm wide rge surface he reel was be detached ase. They can re attached retractable it easier to

link two objects, we fixed a strong neodymium magnet at the extremity of the reels’ strings, and added a metallic bracelet to the objects. The bracelet was wrapped around the bottom part of the cylinder for the Weights and around the reels for the Sucker pads.

CONSTRUCTION AND EXPLORATION TECHNIQUES

Tangible Reels are placed next to the user, on the bottom side of the table. Audio instructions and feedback are provided so that the user can gradually construct a simple physical representation of the map by placing the Tangible Reels (see Figure 3d). During exploration, the user can retrieve the name of the points and lines using finger interactions. All the values mentioned afterward (distances and timers) were based on observations made during preliminary tests.

Constructing the map

Construction instructions

Each line is constructed using two Tangible Reels attached to each other. Three instructions indicate to the user what is the next action to perform (see Figure 1):

x “New object”: at the very beginning of the construction, and each time a new line has to be built, the user has to place a Tangible Reel on the table. As soon as the Tangible Reel is detected, guidance instructions are provided. x “Attach an object to the right/to the left/below/above”: To construct a line the user has to pull out the string of a new Tangible Reel and attach it to the metallic bracelet of the last one that was placed.

x “Attach an object to <name of the object>, to the right/to

the left/below/above”: The start point of the line to be built

is not always the last Tangible Reel that the user has placed. In this case the system gives the name of the object to which the new Tangible Reel must be attached to.

Feedback

x “Attached”: This instruction is played when the system detects that the new Tangible Reel is close enough to the one that it must be attached to, and is immediately followed by guidance instructions.

x “<Name of the point> found”. The system informs the user when the Tangible Reel is at the right location by giving the name of the point represented by the Tangible Reel. If the Tangible Reel is the end point of a line, the instruction “<name of the line> built” is played.

x “Object lost”: The user is informed when the Tangible Reel that is being moved has not been detected by the system for more than 2500 ms.

The last instruction is repeated every 7000 ms until the appropriate action is done by the user. When the “attach an

object” instruction is repeated, the name of the object to

which the user must attach a new Tangible Reel is also given.

Guidance instructions

Depending on the distance between the Tangible Reel that the user is currently moving and the position of the target

point, two types of guidance instructions are provided: rough guidance (every 3500 ms) and fine guidance instructions (every 1500 ms).

x Rough guidance instructions (Figure 1b, step 2). When distance is superior to 15 cm, the system indicates the direction of the target (up / down / left / right / up and right / down and right / up and left / down and left) as well as the distance in centimeters. This enables the user to either quickly slide or lift the object towards the target.

x Fine guidance instructions (Figure 1b, step 3). When the distance to the target is inferior to 15 cm, the system provides more frequent feedback to indicate the direction to follow (up / right / down / left). As long as the target has not been reached, the system repeats the procedure.

Exploring the map

When exploring the map, the user can listen to the name of a point or a line by performing a tap and hold gesture above it. To avoid unintentional selections, the user must select one point or line at a time for at least 700 ms (see Figure 1).

IMPLEMENTATION Hardware

Our tabletop was a 100 x 100 cm plate glass. The setup also included a projector to illuminate the surface and a webcam to detect tagged objects. Both were placed beneath the plate glass. A multitouch IR frame was placed two centimeters above the plate glass (Figure 3d) in order to detect the fingers. To achieve a high quality of tag detection, we restricted the area of work to 80 x 57 cm. The projector, webcam and IR frame were connected to a laptop.

Software

The Tangible Reels were tracked using the TopCodes library [7], which allowed using small circular tags that fit under the objects. The IR frame sent messages containing the finger input state (pressed, updated or ended) and position using the TUIO protocol [12]. We used the MultiTouch4Java library (MT4J, [15]) to receive TUIO messages, and to display the image of the map when needed (e.g. for debug) as well as the position of the physical objects and lines. Audio instructions were provided with a SAPI4 compliant Text-To-Speech engine distributed as part of the CloudGarden TalkingJava SDK 1.7.0.

PRE-STUDY: TANGIBLE REELS USABILITY

The aim of this pre-study was to investigate whether the two types of Tangible Reels were stable and easy to manipulate, but also to verify that built tangible maps were understandable by visually impaired users. It was done for testing the object design only and was performed without any interactive instruction or feedback. We used two types of maps that are frequently used by visually impaired users: metro maps and overview maps (Figure 2a). The Braille Authority of North Canada defined overview maps as maps that “may not have specific detail that would allow some readers to plan a walking route, but instead are designed to familiarize and orient the reader with the area encompassed”.

P W m 1 e S p tw c a th f th to r u u c R r r m c r E W v x d x m m o a d o o P T tw e o o q a o a Figure 4: A set (a, b) and for t metro map Participants and We recruited f males) aged be 14.9). The stu exploration tas Sucker pads an participants we wo objects to comfortable. T and one overvi

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design with t bject design an aluated the tw pads and the W ration task we epresented a p ne objects to b w map (inspir

For the const metro maps rview maps (r wo blocks corre ted in training the constructio p was present task, participa ranked the at the end of nterbalanced am o sets of maps, exploration tas ) and (c) are two erview maps. wo females, tw M = 48.2, SD ning phase, on sk using twelv he training phas line by attachin e until they fe g one metro ma viously made b tively three an mmediately aft They were ask on the topolog ps, three subjec ect, who was n a board. Task th the Tangib s were shown rize it befo mposed for th ce they start not explore th two independe nd Map): o object desig Weights. e designed fo part of a fictiv be built and th red by Figure truction task, w (requiring nin requiring twelv esponding to th followed by th on task. For bo

ted and then ants answered object desig the session. Th mong users. W each containin sk o wo = ne ve se, ng felt ap by nd ter ed gy cts not 2 ble a ore he ed he ent gns our ve he 2) we ne ve he he oth an a ns he We ng two m constru Measu For th object order t the han not inv that ha magne Dycem correct 0/10 m means judges distanc of draw Result In this Particip Objects The av of the was 0.2 = 0.01) Sucker knocke Weigh Map dr Figure given w = 2.7) for the marks, (SD = constru model. the wh Figur (a) and Questio The pa level o disagre object with th frustra

maps for the uction. ures he exploration displacement to evaluate su nd-drawn map volved in the p ave been expl ets (Participant m sheet. We tness of the dr means that the t that the two m

to focus on th ces. We had p wings that shou

ts

s pre-study, w pants are later

ts Stability

verage distance objects before 28 cm (SD = 0 ) for the Sucke r pad got det ed over three hts.

rawings and m

5 shows exam were 8.1 (SD = for the overvie e overview dra , the average = 1.4). One m ucted by the . The subjects hole raised-line re 5: two drawin d the overview m respectively ionnaire and ra articipants spe of agreement o ee and 7 = str design. The f hese objects is ating. The la exploration a task, we mea during explora ubjects’ spatial s to four indep project, alongs lored. The ma t 4) were thor asked the j rawn maps as two maps were maps were high he topology o previously show uld receive 0, 5 we mainly focu referred as P1 e in centimete e and after the

0.03) for the W er pads. During tached; none Weights, and map construction mples of draw = 1.3) for the ew maps. P4 o awings (1.5 and

mark for the metro map an participants w indicated that e map. ngs made after map (b) present y given a score anking ecified on a 7 on a series of rongly agree), first four item

s: 1) pleasant;

ast item wa

and two map

asured the un ation (distance l learning, we pendent judges side pictures o aps that were roughly reprod

judges to ev compared to e not similar at hly similar. We f the map rath wn them three 5 and 10.

used on qualit , P2, etc.

ers between the exploration o Weights and 0.0

g all the explor was moved. d P3 knocked

n

ings. The aver metro maps an obtained the low

d 2.5). If we e overview map nd three overv were not simi they could not

exploring the m ted in Figure 4. of 8.6 and a 6.6

7-point Likert statements (1 for each task ms were: Build ; 2) difficult; as: 5) it is ps for the nintentional e in cm). In e presented s who were f the maps made with duced on a valuate the the model: t all; 10/10 e asked the her than on e examples tative data. e positions f the maps 08 cm (SD rations, one P1 almost d over two rage marks nd 5.7 (SD west marks exclude her ps was 7.0 view maps ilar to the t remember metro map . They were 6. scale their = strongly k and each ding a map 3) fast; 4) easy to

u e a p A e ta W p Q C th th th p c d p w k e o P A r P th “ P P li C B v c m m a c W d a p d u p unintentionally exploration task allowed me to percentage of a All the partic exploration task

ask (two prefe Weights). Ove pads as a globa

Table 1. Perce each item and construction ta

Qualitative feed

Concerning the hey had to rep he Weights tha hey could be position when concerns when declared that paying attentio was reported knocking them exploration. Tw of the Weights P3).

As for the Suc reduced height P3, P4), and tw

hem during th “the advantage P3 described th P4 said that “a

ittle bit annoyi

Conclusion to

Both Tangible visually impair conditions, one map with the majority found appeared to b coherent with t Weights were drawback of th as easily as the participants ha during the co unlikely to h positioning of t y move or knoc k, a sixth item understand th agreement for e ipants preferr k but results w erred the Suck rall, three par al best choice.

ntage of subjec d Object Design asks. The darke

dback e Weights, two place several o an the Sucker p easily moved, constructing t n exploring th he “missed o on not to knock by P1 who m over” an wo participants was an issue, cker pads, thr allowed them wo stated that e exploration ( is that they do he sucker pads attaching and d ing”. the pre-study Reels proved ed user. Over t e participant o e Tangible Re d it pleasant. be more stable

the fact that tw easy to unin e Sucker pads e Weights. Ho ad to remove t nstruction tas happen in a the object is pr ck over these m was evaluated he maps”. Tab each statement. red the Sucke were mixed for ker pads and th ticipants prefe

cts who answere n, after the explo

er the cell, the h

o participants s objects it was e pads (P2, P4). , it was handy the map. Parti he map with t one object be k them over”. said that he nd that they s also reported rather than the

ree participants to better explo they were few (P1, P4). P4 al o not take a lot s as “cool”, “l detaching the S

y

to be easy to the four Object

nly considered eels was diff

However, th e than the W wo participant ntentionally kn

is that they can wever, it shou the Sucker pad

k in this pre real scenari recisely guided objects. For th d: “these objec ble 1 shows th . er pads for th the constructio he other two th erred the Suck

ed a 5, 6 or 7 for oration and the higher the value

stated that wh easier to do wi P3 stated that y to adjust the icipants report the Weights: P ecause [he] w

The same issu was “afraid

hindered th d that the heig eir diameter (P

s said that the ore the map (P wer risk to mov

lso declared th t of place” whi ight” and “fun Sucker pads is manipulate by t Design * Tas d that building ficult while th he Sucker pa Weights. This ts found that th nock over. On nnot be remov uld be noted th ds several tim e-study. This io because th d before fixatio he cts he he on he ker r e e. en ith as eir ed P2 was ue of he ght P1, eir P1, ve hat ile n”. s a y a ks g a he ads is he ne ed hat mes is he on. Severa Weigh knocke to be constru pads b were g these o Weigh followi The m constru memor particip unders drawin difficu comple difficu sugges be too investi of Tan STUDY The ai whole investi the ma describ Partici We rec aged b born b betwee light p could n Experi We de Figure 8, 10, 4), as w each m lines a three d M8, M with a Figu using T al participants hts hindered t ed some Weigh hindered b ucting a map. better meet the globally preferr observations, hts were not us ing experimen marks attribu ucted with T rized by visua pants found th stand the map ngs showed ulties, especiall

ex. Indeed, thre ult to understa sts that the map o complex. In igated the effe ngible Reels.

Y: MAP CONS

im of this stud interactive igate whether aps led to usa bed in the Impl

ipants

cruited 8 legal between 24 and blind; one bec en 4 and 6 year perception but not perceive an imental design esigned four 6) by graduall 12), lines (5, 6 well as crossin map contained as well as one p different lines. M10 and M12. numerical labe

ure 6: the four m Tangible Reels. also reported the exploration hts over. It is e by the object To sum up, e stability req red by three p even though w sable, we chose nt. uted to draw angible Reels ally impaired u hat the Tangibl

. However, th that some p ly on overview ee participants and and mem ps built with T the follow-up ect of map com

STRUCTION A dy was to eval device with increasing the ability issues. lementation se

lly blind perso d 65 (M = 43.8 came blind bef rs old and one

were unable t nything at all. n maps of diff ly augmenting 6, 7, 8) includi ngs between li two horizonta point that was These maps ar . All points an el, ranging from

maps that the p The complexity

right.

d that the hei n, and two p essential for th ts when exp it appeared th quirement, and articipants. Ac we do not con e the Sucker p wings show t s can be exp users. Three o le Reels allow he existence o participants e w maps that w s said that they morize. This o Tangible Reels

p study, we s mplexity on th

ND EXPLORA

luate the usabi Sucker pads e levels of com We used the ction above. ons (2 females 8, SD = 14.4).

fore the age o at 16. Three h to discern shap

ferent complex g the number of ing oblique lin ines (0, 2, 4, 6 al lines and tw s the start or en re later referred nd lines were m 1 to 12. articipants had y is increasing f ght of the participants he users not ploring or hat Sucker d that they ccording to nsider that pads for the

that maps plored and out of four ed them to f incorrect xperienced were more were quite observation should not specifically he usability ATION ility of the s, and to mplexity of e apparatus s, 6 males) Four were of 1; three had residual pes; others xities (see f points (6, nes (1, 2, 3, 6). Besides, wo vertical nd point of d to as M6, associated d to build from left to

W m A o I T b D m in c m A o ty o F a m c c A d th q th i s M U e th ti in to n n w p s w e s s p q W d w O p S We used a wit maps (four lev All the particip order of increas

nstructions an

The study cons by construction During familia manipulate th nstructions to could practice made of five po After the famil of the four map ype: what are

of <name of a Figure 1c) and answering. Du more than th considered as a could continue. After each co difficulty of the he session, the questionnaires,

hink that cons t? They were system. Measures and Usability was effectiveness an hree measures ime to place nstruction unti o answer each number of map number of cor was measured participants’ co successive pos well as the occ exploration, w selected elemen selected. We t participants = questions * 8 p We used the Sh data followed were normal, Otherwise we performed with Samples with a thin-subjects d vels of comple pants had to co sing difficulty nd tasks sisted in one f n and explorati arization, par e Sucker pa construct a ma as many time oints. liarization pha ps, and then an the names of th a line>? They

select the app uring construct hree minutes a failure, and w . onstruction, p e task on a 7-p ey answered a S as well as th structing the m also invited to statistical me s evaluated nd satisfaction s: 1) time need e one object, il the object wa h question. Effe ps each particip rrect answers d using the omments. Durin itions of each currence of the we logged for nts as well as therefore colle 288 trials for articipants = 9 hapiro-Wilk te a normal dis we computed used a Friedm h the Wilcoxon a Benjamini and

design with the exity) as indep onstruct the m (M6, M8, M10

familiarization ion tasks with t

ticipants were ds, how to ap, and how to

s as they want

ase, the partici nswered three he two points a y had to explo propriate line a tion, when pa on one instr we provided h participants ha oint Likert sca SUS [3] and a he following q map helped yo o provide any ethods by measur n. Efficiency w ded to build th from the fi as correctly pla ectiveness was pant successfu to the questio SUS question ng the construc h Sucker pad b e different instr each question s the time at w ected (6 + 8 + construction, 6 trials for exp st to determine stribution. Wh d a Univariate man test. Post n Signed-Rank d Hochberg co

e Complexity pendent variabl maps in the sam

0 and M12).

n phase follow the Sucker pad e told how

interpret aud explore it. Th ted to on a ma

ipants built eac questions of th

at the extremiti

re the map (s and points befo articipants spe ruction, it w help so that th

ad to rate th ale. At the end

NASA-TLX [ question: do yo ou to understan comment on th ing efficienc was assessed wi he entire map; rst constructio aced, and 3) tim s assessed by th ully built and th ons. Satisfactio nnaire and th ction, we logg being placed, ructions. Durin n the ID of th which they we + 10 + 12) * and 4 maps * ploration. e if the collect hen distributio e ANOVA te t-hoc tests we s Test for Pair orrection. of le. me ed ds. to dio ey ap ch his ies ee ore ent was ey he of [5] ou nd he cy, ith 2) on me he he on he ed as ng he ere 8 3 ed ns st. ere ed Result Constr Twenty corresp correct becaus (M6, M becaus experim errors one. Fo was pl pad. B attache M12) Sucker P3 (M pad to to 8” difficu on M1 Sucker unchan Sucker hear th other S Figure (not in experim of Map Post-ho comple M12 (p M10 (p Figure The av averag signific M10 a of Ma (ȋ²=20 signific conditi ts ruction y seven map ponded to 28 tly positioned se one line did

M12), and th se the partici menter (M8,

was very low or Participant 2 layed before th By the time, th ed the new Su pulled out a r pad. He then M12) spent seve the point 9, w was repeat ulties focusing 0, he moved th r pad, so that nged. When c r pad to attach he feedback (“a Sucker pads. 7 shows the a ncluding 3 ma menter). A Fri p Complexity o oc pairwise etion time diffe p<.05), betwee p< .05). e 7: Average co map verage time to ge. Post-hoc cant difference and M12 (p<.0 ap Complexity 0.85, p<.001). cant completi ions (p<.05) as ps out of 32 83 Sucker pad and linked. T d not start fro hree maps we ipants require M12, M12). (5) we provid 2 (P2) in M6, t he user effectiv he user had mo ucker pad to a string too str reattached it t eral minutes tr whereas the inst ted several t on the task: w he extremity o at the guidanc constructing M a new one, bu attached”), and average time t aps constructe iedman test sh on completion comparison ferences betwee en M12 and M ompletion times ps (error bars ar o place a Tan pairwise co e in time neede 05). There was y on rough gu Post-hoc pairw on time diffe s shown in Figu 2 were corre ds out of 28 Two maps wer om the right S ere considered ed assistance Because the n de further detai the instruction vely attached oved away and an incorrect on rongly and de to the wrong S rying to attach truction “attach times. P8 e when placing f the string ins ce instructions M12, he found ut did not wait d then tried to to construct co ed with the h owed a signifi times (ƹ²=16.4 n revealed en M6 and M8 M8, and between s (in seconds) to re IC95). ngible Reel wa omparison re ed to place a T s also a signifi uidance time wise compariso erences betwe ure 8. ect, which 8 (98.3%) re incorrect Sucker pad d incorrect from the number of ils on each “attached” the Sucker d therefore ne. P1 (on etached the Sucker pad. h a Sucker h an object xperienced one object stead of the s remained d the good t enough to attach it to orrect maps help of the icant effect 4, p<.001). significant 8, M10 and n M12 and o construct as 23.7 on evealed a TR between icant effect per object on revealed en all the

F t E T n ( M p p c to A e p e f ( T q M 1 th c a m p li Q T P p 9 r in Figure 8. Avera to correctly pla to a previous on following roug fin Exploration Table 2 indica number of po (correct answe Map Complexi p=.01). Post-h participants sel compared to M o answer each ANOVA with exploration tim p<.01). A po exploration tim for M8 (p<.05) M6 (a) 14.6 (11. (b) 3.9 (0.9 Table 2. Avera and averag The percentag questions were M10, and 79.2% 1) participants he wrong line constructed (P1 a misalignmen map (P8 twice perform the po ines (P3, P6). Questionnaires The average Participants ha point Likert sca 9 illustrates the rather easy (1, 2 ndicates the sc

age times and IC ace a Tangible R ne or placing it

gh guidance ins ne guidance inst

ates the averag oints and line ers only). We ty and Numbe hoc pairwise lected less ele M8, M10 and M question follo Map Compl mes differed ost-hoc Tukey mes for M12 w and M6 (p<.0 M8 1) 22.5 (17.7 9) 6.0 (1.0)

age time to answ ge number of ele indicated in ges of correct e: 91.7% for M % for M12. Er pointed to the (P2 twice, P3, 1, P2); 3) Suck nt between the e); 4) particip ointing gesture s SUS score ad to rate the ale (1 = very e e number of pa 2), normal (3, 4 cores of the NA

C95 for the thre Reel: 1) attachi anywhere on th structions (gree tructions (oran ge completion s selected for found an inte r of elements s e comparison ements when e M12 (p<.05). C owed a normal lexity as fact significantly y’s HSD test were significan 1). M10 7) 31.4 (23.9 ) 7.3 (2.0)

wer one explora ements selected n parenthesis.

t answers to M6; 95.8% for rrors were due right intersecti , P6); 2) maps ker pads got de

tangible map pants had trou es and therefo

for the syst difficulty of t easy; 7 = very d articipants who 4, 5) or difficu ASA-TLX ques ee steps require ng a Sucker pa he table (blue); n); 3) following ge). n times, and th r each questio eraction betwe selected (ƹ²= 9 n showed th exploring M6 Completion tim distribution. A or showed th (F(3,28)=5.7 indicated th ntly higher th M12 ) 41.9 (27.8) 8.6 (0.8) tion question (a d (b). SDs are the exploratio r M8; 91.7% f e to the fact tha

ion but follow were incorrect etached, creatin p and the digit uble to correct ore to select th tem was 83. the task on a difficult). Figu o found the ta ult (6, 7). Table stionnaire. ed d 2) g he on en 91, hat as mes An hat 70, hat an ) a) on for at: ed tly ng tal tly he .6. 7-ure ask e 3 Figure task Conclu Constr Results constru issues. most c minute quickly proved to foll sugges by im particip stated t to mak P2, P3 the exp was ne failed “could observ becaus Explora 89.6% system Howev difficu only, a and po spent o P7, wh second interse manag Men Phys Temp Pe F Ta partic Ͳ ͳ ʹ ͵ Ͷ ͷ ͸ ͹ ͺ N u m b e r o f p a r tc ip a n ts e 9: for each ma rather easy (bl usions about ruction s shows that uct the maps

85% of the m omplex map w es. The rough g y move a Suc d to be efficien low fine than sts that the ove mproving the pants found th that “instructio ke mistakes” an , P6. However periment they ecessary to re in constructi dn’t hear the i ved that P4 fa se he did not ke ration of the answe m is usable to ver, we observ ulties to perfor

and did not alw oints. For exam on average 8.7 ho perfectly un ds per element ections of two ge to select the ntaldemand sicaldemand poraldemand Effort erformance Frustration

able 3. For each cipants who ind

͸ ap, number of p lue); normal (gr map construc most of the without exp maps were corre was constructed guidance techn cker pad close nt. On average n rough guida erall completio fine guidanc he instructions ons are extrem nd similar com r, P3 and P5 d were getting emain concent ing M12 bec instructions an failed in const eep on focusing

ers were correc retrieve spec ed two issues: rm pointing g ways manage t mple, P3 kept u seconds to sel nderstood the t. 2) Some pa o lines and th

line they want

<33 62.5 75 75 75 0 75 h NASA-TLX c dicated a value i ͺ participants who reen); difficult ( ction and expl

participants m periencing any ectly construct d in approxima nique allowed t to the target it was three tim ance instructio on time could b ce mode. Mo s easy to unde mely clear, it is mments were m eclared that at tired, notably trated (P3 sai cause she felt nymore”). Sim tructing M10 g on the instru ct, which show cific spatial in 1) some partic gestures with to quickly selec using several f lect one elemen

gesture, spent articipants poin herefore did n ted to. <66 < 25 1 0 25 25 12.5 8 25 criteria, percent inferior to 33, 6 ͳͲ o found the (orange). loration managed to y usability ed, and the atively four the users to and hence mes longer ons, which be reduced ost of the erstand. P4 impossible made by P1, the end of because it d that she t like she milarly, we and M12 uctions. ws that the nformation. cipants had one finger ct the lines fingers and nt, whereas t only 0.96 nted at the not always <100 12.5 25 0 0 87.5 0 tage of 66 and 100. ͳʹ

C F th tw a s to R d i c in u w r c th O b h p “ li w r p p th ( u a S O p o in th a w m b o D O m to li li e b th ( ( e s im Complexity Four participan he last three c wo conditions at reconstructin stated that it be ogether when Reels. Two sub difficult to und s interesting to completion tim ncrease with t usability issues were likely due result from th conditions happ he complexity Overall, we d between the horizontal line place an objec “new object” i inked to a pre was being con revealed a po probably reflec place a new Su he maps that c (number and s user’s ability t appropriate acti Satisfaction and Overall, partic performance (N of the particip ndicated by th hey were able and two pinpo were explicitly maps. Finally, be very helpful orientation and DISCUSSION Overall, we sh materialize poi o move and st ink two or m ines. The pre-easily manipul built with them

hat maps of d (85%) and can (89.6% of corr efficient (23.7s satisfying (SUS mproved by a nts found that onditions (P1, (P4 and P7). T ng M12 found ecame difficult

they were alr bjects (P4 and derstand and ex o note that exce mes to place on the map comp s. Three failur e to a lack of c he length of

pened at the en of the map per did not obser times to co s. However, w ct anywhere o instruction (i.e evious one) gr nstructed (a P ositive correlat cts the time n ucker pad, sug can be built is size of Tangib to interpret au ions. d usefulness cipants were NASA-TLX sc pants), and f e SUS score. S e to understand inted that it w y asked to un three participa l for education mobility lesso howed that Ta nts and lines o table. A reel w more phicons t study showed late Tangible m. Results of different comp n be explored rect answers). s only in ave S of 83.6). Th allowing multip difficulty rem P2, P4, and P The two partici d this task diffi t to attach two ready close to P7) declared th xplore more co ept between M ne object did n plexity, neither res (in M10, concentration t the whole ex nd of the expe r se.

rve any statis nstruct obliqu we observed t on the table a e. an object th radually increa Pearson correla tion : r=0.64, needed to find ggesting that th limited by phy ble Reels) rath udio instructio

highly satis core superior t found the sys Six participant d the maps aft would have bee nderstand and ants said that th nal purposes (m ons). angible Reels on tangible ma with strong ma together and p that participan Reels, and u the main stud plexity are ve d by the users

In addition, erage to place

he exploration ple fingers sel

mained similar P5) or in the la

pants who fail ficult. P1 and P o Tangible Ree o other Tangib hat it will be to omplex maps. M10 and M12, th not significant r the number M12 and M1 that could eith xperiment (the eriment) or fro

stical differen ue, vertical that the time after hearing th

hat must not b ases as the ma ation coefficie , p<0.01). Th room where he complexity ysical constrain her than by th ons and perfor

sfied with th to 66% for 85 stem usable, s mentioned th fter constructio en easier if th d memorize th he system wou mathematics an are efficient aps, and are ea agnets is used provide tangib nts were able understand ma dy demonstrat ry often corre s with accura the system w an object) an mode could b lection of poin in ast ed P5 els ble oo It he tly of 2) her ese om nce or to he be ap ent his to of nts he rm he 5% as hat on, ey he uld nd to asy to ble to aps ed ect cy was nd be nts and li crossin Weigh height are use Map co The nu table li most o comple when o amoun materia Reels, using feedba Design We de tangibl through texture (called bend t provid particu examp mode, modifi reposit More t With t possibl potenti includi charts, graphic may ac CONC Graphi used i techno them a tangibl explori the des be use they a convey

ines, and pro ngs. However hts hindered ma of phicons sho ed by visually i omplexity umber of Tang imits the comp of the particip ex maps, som objects were t nt of informatio

alize the mos and then prov gestural inter ack (see [22] fo

ning advanced

esigned a solu le. Areas coul h audio (see es [6]. Beside d “modifiers”) them to constr e advanced ular points of i ple, for zoomin

and move apa ied accordingl tion Tangible R than tangible m the materializa le to construct ially materializ ing points, line etc.). Figur cal representa ccess with Tan

Figure 10. Ot LUSION

ics (maps, org in education ologies that he

are still uncom le tabletop i ing tangible g sign of Tangibl ed to materiali are stable, easy

y spatial repres oviding speci r, several par ap exploration ould be careful impaired users

gible Reels that plexity of the m pants managed me reported tha too close to ea on is required, st important e vide access to ractions as we or instance). d functions ution to make ld also be rep [27] for exam s, we started

that are atta ruct curves. T

functions interests, or zo ng, users will art two objects ly and the u Reels and place

maps, tangibl

ation of points t maps. Obviou ze any type of es, and areas re 10 illustra ations that a v ngible Reels. her graphics wi ganigrams, bar but also in e lp visually im mmon. In this interface that graphics. More le Reels, a new ize points and y to manipula sentations of di ific feedback rticipants rep n, which sugge lly considered s. t can be placed map. In addition d to construct at the task wa ach other. Whe it would be int elements using less importan ell as audio a e both points presented and mple) or illus to design sm ached to the s Tangible Reels like display ooming and pa have to select . The digital m user will be e new ones. e graphics s and lines, w usly, Tangible f graphical rep (graphs, flow ates three exa visually impair ith Tangible Re r charts, etc.) everyday life. mpaired users t s paper we int t allows bui e precisely, we w type of phico d lines. We sh ate, and can b ifferent comple for lines ported that sts that the when they d above the n, although t the more as difficult en a larger teresting to g Tangible nt elements and haptic and lines d conveyed sory tactile mall objects strings and s may also ying/hiding anning. For t the zoom map will be guided to we made it e Reels can resentation charts, bar amples of red person eels are widely . However to perceive troduced a lding and e described ons that can howed that be used to exity.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

We thank the LACII and notably Claude Griet, Laurence Boulade and Nathalie Bedouin. We are very grateful to all the participants of the study. We also thank Gilles Bailly, Anke Brock and Bernard Oriola for their meaningful comments. This work is part of the AccessiMap project (research grant AccessiMap ANR-14-CE17-0018).

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