Demo Hour

Kintouch

How do visually impaired people explore tactile images? Little is known about this. Yet, understanding this question would help us design interactive interfaces for visually impaired users that better satisfy their needs. The study of haptic exploration strategies in psychology usually relies on video observations, which are difficult and time-consuming. We introduce Kintouch, a prototype that tracks finger movements by integrating data from the Microsoft Kinect camera and a multitouch display. It registers location and timing of hand and digit movements and can thus help in analyzing haptic exploration strategies. Results of preliminary studies show this approach to be promising.

Project website: http://www.irit.fr/~Anke.Brock/Kintouch/

Publication: Brock, A., Lebaz, S., Oriola, B., Picard, D., Jouffrais, C., and Truillet, P. Kin'touch: Understanding how visually impaired people explore tactile maps. CHI'12 Extended Abstracts on Human Factors in Computing Systems. ACM, New York, 2471-2476.

Anke Brock | IRIT – CNRS & Université Toulouse | [email protected]

Philippe Truillet | IRIT – CNRS & Université Toulouse | [email protected]

Bernard Oriola | IRIT – CNRS & Université Toulouse | [email protected]

Delphine Picard | IUF & Université Toulouse | [email protected]

Christophe Jouffrais | IRIT – CNRS & Université Toulouse | [email protected]