[Nfb-science] Nfb-science Digest, Vol 71, Issue 5

[Benjamin Davison]

Hayden,

It's great to hear about your interest in accessible graphs. As you know, tactile graphics have been advancing for 200 years, but it more challenging when using computers or in advanced classes.

For circuit diagrams, you might be interested in the work at Queen Mary. Dr. Metatla and Dr. Stockman are doing work on accessible, collaborative diagrams. See:
1. http://ccmi.eecs.qmul.ac.uk/
2. http://www.eecs.qmul.ac.uk/~oussama/textOnly.html

I am very interested in the curriculum component. What classes are you taking? What challenges do you expect? In terms of 2D graphs, you might be interested in the mathematics work in our own lab, using sonification, summarized at http://bit.ly/mathgnie . My focus has been on developing accessible applications that are based on learning requirements.

In terms of the sonification, I'd be cautious about relying to heavily on spatialization. Good spatialization (including dimensions beyond stereo left-right) requires a specialized head-related transfer function. HRTFs can be expensive to conduct and are specific to a person. Even with a good spatialization, you may not be able to localize to the level that you would need for a circuit diagram.

There's been a fair amount of work in this area, particularly in the past 10 years. I'd suggest doing a quick lit review so you can find out what works and what can be avoided. For multimodal interaction, I'd recommend starting with Stephen Brewster's work (with others, including Ramloll, Brown, Yu, and McGookin). MULTIVIS and others look at applications, but also more psychophysical studies which get at what sort of haptic and audio displays work.

Finally, you might want to also look at NFB-Blindmath, as the topic could be related to both math and science.

Good luck!
- Ben

--
Benjamin Davison
Human Centered Computing PhD Student
Georgia Institute of Technology School of Interactive Computing
Walker Sonification Lab http://sonify.psych.gatech.edu
davison at gatech.edu



Stephanie H. DeLuca sjhhirst at gmail.com 
Mon Jun 25 12:05:21 CDT 2012

Hi Hayden,

This sounds really interesting.  I was wondering if you know anything about
using haptics, such as those used by engineers when they are doing 3D
modeling?

Touch-enabled 3D Model Design
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0nLa40-YEDw
ArtNova: Touch-Enabled 3D Model Design
http://gamma.cs.unc.edu/ARTNOVA/artnova.pdf

Interactive Haptic Rendering of High-Resolution Deformable Objects
http://gamma.cs.unc.edu/HAPDEFO/downloads/gotgl-hcii07.pdf

I think there is a lot of potential for using these technologies for
teaching things in 3D to people who are blind/VI.  In my opinion, hap tics
and 3D printing is really going to change the availability of STEM learning
to the blind/VI.  I'm really excited about this!  Let me know how your
project goes.  Are you going to write anything up for it?  For example, a
paper or poster?

In the field of observation, chance favors only the prepared mind.
    ~Louis Pasteur, lecture 1854


On Sun, Jun 24, 2012 at 11:20 PM, Hayden Dahmm <hwdahmm at live.com> wrote:

>
> Hello everyone,
>
> I’m a rising sophomore at Swarthmore College, where I intend to major in
> Environmental Engineering.  Although I’ve been legally blind from birth, I
> lost all functional vision only a year ago. I’m perfectly fine with this
> change, but I’m still developing the techniques for accessing visual
> content in my engineering courses.  Currently, assistants take lecture
> notes, create tactile diagrams, and serve as scribes for problem sets.
>  This has worked well enough, but I would appreciate any suggestions on how
> I could increase my independence.
>
> Also, this summer, I’m researching in the Swarthmore Engineering
> Department on ways of making STEM subjects more accessible to the blind,
> with potential collaboration with labs at Drexel University and the
> University of Pennsylvania.  Our work has three foci…
>
> 1.) Developing models specific to my fall classes.  For electrical
> Engineering, we will use K’NEX to illustrate circuits.  For Chemistry and
> Calc 3, we might use 3-D printing.
> 2.) Studying/applying data sonification.  We plan to use quadraphonic
> headphones paired with a joystick to interrogate spatial data using ChucK.
> 3.) Developing refreshable, tactile displays.  We might try creating
> embossed images with new Piezo actuators or a modernized version of the
> Optacon.  As a short term solution, we also plan to work on an IOS app that
> could take in a diagram and vibrate when the user's finger crosses a line.
>
> I would love to hear any thoughts you might have on my research topics.  I
> would be glad to give more info if anyone is interested.
>
> Best regards,
> Hayden
> hwdahmm at live.com
> 610-405-0098
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