This project lays the foundation and framework for enabling digital, multimodal tactile graphics on touchscreens for individuals with visual impairments (VI). Given the low-cost, portability, and wide availability of touchscreens, this work promotes the use of vibrations and sounds on these readily available platforms for addressing the graphical access challenge for individuals with VI. An open-source vibration library has been created and fundamental perceptual building blocks (e.g.\ shapes, lines, critical points, line width and gaps, etc.) guiding how basic graphical components should be rendered on these platforms is being disseminated.
Recent Publications:
Tennison J., Greenberg J., E. Moore, and Gorlewicz, J. L. Haptic paradigms for multimodal interactive simulations. Journal on Technology and Persons with Disabilities. CSUN Assistive Technology Conference, March 2021.
Gorlewicz, J. L., Tennison, J. L., Uesbeck, P. M., Richard, M. E., Palani, H. P., Stefik, A., Smith, D. W., & Giudice, N. A. (2020). Design Guidelines and Recommendations for Multimodal, Touchscreen-based Graphics. ACM Transactions on Accessible Computing (TACCESS), 13(3), 1-30.
Tennison, J. L., Uesbeck, P. M., Giudice, N. A., Stefik, A., Smith, D. W., & Gorlewicz, J. L. (2020). Establishing Vibration-Based Tactile Line Profiles for Use in Multimodal Graphics. ACM Transactions on Applied Perception (TAP), 17(2), 1-14.
Stefik, A. (2020a). Android Quorum; vibro-tactile application source. Retrieved Sept 20, 2020, from https://bitbucket.org/stefika/androidquorum/src/master/.
Stefik, A. (2020b). Vibration library in Quorum. Retrieved Sept 20, 2020, from https://bitbucket.org/stefika/quorum-language/src/master/Quorum/Library/Standard/Libraries/Interface/Vibration/.
Palani, H. P., Fink, P. D., & Giudice, N. A. (2020). Design Guidelines for Schematizing and Rendering Haptically Perceivable Graphical Elements on Touchscreen Devices. International Journal of Human-Computer Interaction, 1-22. DOI: 10.1080/10447318.2020.1752464
Giudice, N.A., Guenther, B.A., Jensen, N.A., & Haase, K.N. (2020). Cognitive mapping without vision: Comparing wayfinding performance after learning from digital touchscreen-based multimodal maps vs. embossed tactile overlays. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience. 14:87. Doi: 10.3389/fnhum.2020.00087
P. Merlin Drews, Cole Peterson, Bonita Sharif, and Andreas Stefik. 2020. A Randomized Controlled Trial on the Effects of Embedded Computer Language Switching. In Proceedings of the 28th ACM Joint European Software Engineering Conference and Symposium on the Foundations of Software Engineering (ESEC/FSE '20), November 8-13, 2020, Virtual Event, USA. ACM, New York, NY, USA, 11 pages. https://doi.org/10.1145/3368089.3409701
On The Human Factors Impact of Polyglot Programming on Programmer Productivity. Phillip Merlin Uesbeck. Ph.D. Dissertation. December 2019. University of Nevada, Las Vegas.
J. Tennison and J. L. Gorlewicz. Non-visual perception of lines on a multimodal touchscreen tablet. ACM Transactions on Applied Perception, 16(1):6, 2019.
J. L. Tennison, Z. S. Carril, N. A. Giudice, and J. L. Gorlewicz. Comparing graphical pattern matching on tablets and phones: Large screens are not necessarily better. Optometry and Vision Science, 95(9):720{726, 2018.
Tennison, J. L., Carril, Z. S., Giudice, N. A., & Gorlewicz, J. L. (2018, August). Comparing haptic pattern matching on tablets and phones: Large screens are not necessarily better. Optometry and Vision Science, 95(9), 720–726.
Hahn, M., Mueller, C., & Gorlewicz, J. L. (in press). The comprehension of stem graphics via a multi-sensory tablet in students with visual impairment. Journal of Visual Impairment and Blindness.
Gorlewicz, J. L., Tennison, J. L., Palani, H. P., & Giudice, N. A. (in press). The graphical access challenge for people with visual impairments: Positions and pathways forward [Interactive multimedia]. London, UK: IntechOpen Limited.
Gorlewicz, J. L., Mueller, C. M., & Dahmm, H. (2018, October). Bringing digital graphics to life: The promise of multimodal touchscreens – Progress and future work. Presented at the National Federation of the Blind Tactile Graphics in Education and Careers Symposium, Baltimore, MD.
Palani, H. P., Tennison, J. L., Giudice, G. B., & Giudice, N. A. (2018). Touchscreen-based haptic information access for assisting blind and visually-impaired users: Perceptual parameters and design guidelines. In T. Ahram & C. Falcão (Eds.), Advances in Usability, User Experience and Assistive Technology: Part of the International Conference on Applied Human Factors and Ergonomics (AHFE’18). Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing (798, 837-847). Cham, Switzerland: Springer International Publishing.
Palani, H. P., Giudice, G.B., & Giudice, N.A. (2018, July). Haptic information access on touchscreen devices: Guidelines for accurate perception and judgment of line orientation. Presented at the 20th annual conference on Human-Computer Interaction (HCI International ’18). Las Vegas, NV.
Palani, H. P. & Giudice, N. A. (2017, October). Principles for designing large-format refreshable haptic graphics using touchscreen devices: An evaluation of nonvisual panning methods. Presented at the 19th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS’17), Baltimore, MD.