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Help Supporters: Exploring the Design Space of Assistive Technologies to Support Face-to-Face Help Between Blind and Sighted Strangers

Yuanyang Teng, Connor Courtien, David Angel Rios, Yves M. Tseng, Jacqueline Gibson, Maryam Aziz, Avery Reyna, Rajan Vaish, Brian A. Smith

Abstract

Blind and low-vision (BLV) people face many challenges when venturing into public environments, often wishing it were easier to get help from people nearby. Ironically, while many sighted individuals are willing to help, such interactions are infrequent. Asking for help is socially awkward for BLV people, and sighted people lack experience in helping BLV people. Through a mixed-ability research-through-design process, we explore four diverse approaches toward how assistive technology can serve as help supporters that collaborate with both BLV and sighted parties throughout the help process. These approaches span two phases: the connection phase (finding someone to help) and the collaboration phase (facilitating help after finding someone). Our findings from a 20-participant mixed-ability study reveal how help supporters can best facilitate connection, which types of information they should present during both phases, and more. We discuss design implications for future approaches to support face-to-face help.

Help Supporters: Exploring the Design Space of Assistive Technologies to Support Face-to-Face Help Between Blind and Sighted Strangers

Abstract

Blind and low-vision (BLV) people face many challenges when venturing into public environments, often wishing it were easier to get help from people nearby. Ironically, while many sighted individuals are willing to help, such interactions are infrequent. Asking for help is socially awkward for BLV people, and sighted people lack experience in helping BLV people. Through a mixed-ability research-through-design process, we explore four diverse approaches toward how assistive technology can serve as help supporters that collaborate with both BLV and sighted parties throughout the help process. These approaches span two phases: the connection phase (finding someone to help) and the collaboration phase (facilitating help after finding someone). Our findings from a 20-participant mixed-ability study reveal how help supporters can best facilitate connection, which types of information they should present during both phases, and more. We discuss design implications for future approaches to support face-to-face help.
Paper Structure (52 sections, 9 figures, 6 tables)

This paper contains 52 sections, 9 figures, 6 tables.

Table of Contents

  1. Introduction
  2. Related Work
  3. Collaboration Between BLV and Sighted Individuals
  4. BLV People’s Current Practices for Navigating and Sensemaking
  5. Assistive Technologies Used by BLV and Sighted Individuals
  6. Help Supporter Prototypes
  7. Connection Phase Prototype 1: Person-Finder Glasses
  8. Connection Phase Prototype 2: Volunteer Platform
  9. Collaboration Phase Prototype 1: Pictorial Display
  10. Collaboration Phase Prototype 2: Vague Directions Flagger
  11. Methods
  12. Participants
  13. Study Procedure
  14. Pre-Study Interview
  15. Prototype Usage Experiences
  16. ...and 37 more sections

Figures (9)

  • Figure 1: Person-Finder Glasses. Left: A BLV user (in blue) wearing the Person-Finder Glasses to locate and greet a nearby stranger (in red) in a public environment. Right: A plan view diagram showing how the Person-Finder Glasses support the BLV user (in blue) to detect a nearby stranger (in red) and display auditory cues.
  • Figure 2: Person-Finder Glasses implementation. A blind user looks around with the Person-Finder Glasses to find help. When the system detects a face (inset, with an overlay indicating a detection), it plays a continuous spatial audio cue to guide the wearer to the other person.
  • Figure 3: Volunteer Platform. Top: A BLV user (in blue) using the Volunteer Platform to connect with one of the nearby helpers (in red). Bottom: Screenshots of the Volunteer Platform mobile app. The sighted user (in red) provides basic information about themselves, and the BLV user (in blue) sends help requests to a list of nearby helpers.
  • Figure 4: Volunteer Platform implementation.
  • Figure 5: Pictorial Display. Left: A BLV user (in blue) wearing the Pictoral Display on their chest receiving help from a sighted user (in red). The sighted user upon seeing the message on the Pictorial Display makes a correction of their words. Right: Examples from a set of 20 pictorial messages used in our study.
  • ...and 4 more figures