Timbremap: enabling the visually-impaired to use maps on touch-enabled devices

Authors:
Jing Su;Alyssa Rosenzweig;Ashvin Goel;Eyal de Lara;Khai N. Truong
Affiliations:
University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada;University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada;University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada;University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada;University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
Venue:
Proceedings of the 12th international conference on Human computer interaction with mobile devices and services
Year:
2010

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Abstract

Mapping applications on mobile devices have gained widespread popularity as a means for enhancing user mobility and ability to explore new locations and venues. Visually impaired users currently rely on computer text-to-speech or human-spoken descriptions of maps and indoor spaces. Unfortunately, speech-based descriptions are limited in their ability to succinctly convey complex layouts or spacial positioning. This paper presents Timbremap, a sonification interface enabling visually impaired users to explore complex indoor layouts using off-the-shelf touch-screen mobile devices. This is achieved using audio feedback to guide the user's finger on the device's touch interface to convey geometry. Our user-study evaluation shows Timbremap is effective in conveying non-trivial geometry and enabling visually impaired users to explore indoor layouts.