Affiliation:
1. The University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, Australia
Abstract
In virtual environments, spatial information is communicated visually. This prevents people with visual impairment (PVI) from accessing such spaces. In this article, we investigate whether echolocation could be used as a tool to convey spatial information by answering the following research questions: What features of virtual space can be perceived by PVI through the use of echolocation? How does active echolocation support PVI in acquiring spatial knowledge of a virtual space? And what are PVI’s opinions regarding the use of echolocation to acquire landmark and survey knowledge of virtual space? To answer these questions, we conducted a two-part within-subjects experiment with 12 people who were blind or had a visual impairment and found that size and materials of rooms and 90-degree turns were detectable through echolocation, participants preferred using echoes derived from footsteps rather than from artificial sound pulses, and echolocation supported the acquisition of mental maps of a virtual space. Ultimately, we propose that appropriately designed echolocation in virtual environments improves understanding of spatial information and access to digital games for PVI.
Funder
Secretariat of Higher Education, Science, Technology and Innovation of Ecuador
Instituto de Fomento al Talento Humano
Melbourne Research Scholarship and the Interaction Design Lab at the University of Melbourne
Publisher
Association for Computing Machinery (ACM)
Subject
Computer Science Applications,Human-Computer Interaction
Cited by
18 articles.
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