Using dynamic audio feedback to support peripersonal reaching in young visually impaired people

Graham Wilson, Stephen A. Brewster

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contribution book

12 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Blind children engage with their immediate environment much less than sighted children, particularly through self-initiated movement or exploration. Research has suggested that providing dynamic feedback about the environment and the child's actions within/against it may help to encourage reaching activity and support spatial cognitive learning. This paper investigated whether the accuracy of peripersonal reaching (space within arm's reach) can be improved by the use of dynamic sound from both the objects to reach for and the reaching hand itself (via a worn speak-er). We ran two studies that tested the efficacy of static and dy-namic audio feedback designs with blind and visually impaired young people, to identify optimal feedback designs. Study 1 was with young adults aged 18 to 22 and Study 2 involved children aged 12 to 17. The results showed that dynamic audio feedback helps to build spatial connections between the objects and the reaching hand and participants were able to reach more accurate-ly, compared to unchanging feedback.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationASSETS 2016 - Proceedings of the 18th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility
Pages209-217
Number of pages9
ISBN (Electronic)9781450341240
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 23 Oct 2016
Event18th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility, ASSETS 2016 - Reno, United States
Duration: 24 Oct 201626 Oct 2016

Publication series

NameASSETS 2016 - Proceedings of the 18th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility

Conference

Conference18th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility, ASSETS 2016
Country/TerritoryUnited States
CityReno
Period24/10/1626/10/16

Keywords

  • reaching
  • sound perception
  • visual impairment
  • dynamic feedback

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