A smart handheld magnifier for reflowing printed text notices in public spaces.

PURPOSE: Individuals with reduced vision may rely on handheld magnifiers for near reading of texts on household items such as food packaging and far reading of information notices and signposts. Smartphones have become favoured magnification devices due to their pervasiveness. Users typically take a photo of the text, view the image with magnification and explore details by panning in two-dimensions. However, two-dimensional panning is cumbersome, confusing and slow. MATERIALS AND METHODS: To improve the magnification experience, we implemented a proof-of-concept magnifier that reflows text to fit the device's viewport width. The user navigates through the text by scrolling up/down. Our implementation relies on a novel pixel-based text reflow image analysis algorithm. RESULTS: The prototype can successfully reflow text printed on sheets of paper such as notices. Initial tests showed that users preferred the smart digital magnifier over ordinary magnification. CONCLUSIONS: More work is needed to successfully handle other important use cases such as electronic information boards and household product packaging. We discuss open challenges and future directions for smart magnifiers.

Starstruck by journal prestige and citation counts? On students' bias and perceptions of trustworthiness according to clues in publication references.

Research is becoming increasingly accessible to the public via open access publications, researchers' social media postings, outreach activities, and popular disseminations. A healthy research discourse is typified by debates, disagreements, and diverging views. Consequently, readers may rely on the information available, such as publication reference attributes and bibliometric markers, to resolve conflicts. Yet, critical voices have warned about the uncritical and one-sided use of such information to assess research. In this study we wanted to get insight into how individuals without research training place trust in research based on clues present in publication references. A questionnaire was designed to probe respondents' perceptions of six publication attributes. A total of 148 students responded to the questionnaire of which 118 were undergraduate students (with limited experience and knowledge of research) and 27 were graduate students (with some knowledge and experience of research). The results showed that the respondents were mostly influenced by the number of citations and the recency of publication, while author names, publication type, and publication origin were less influential. There were few differences between undergraduate and graduate students, with the exception that undergraduate students more strongly favoured publications with multiple authors over publications with single authors. We discuss possible implications for teachers that incorporate research articles in their curriculum.

Effect of Manual Wheelchair Type on Mobility Performance, Cardiorespiratory Responses, and Perceived Exertion.

This study is aimed at comparing the design and configuration of the most commonly used manual wheelchair models through cardiorespiratory responses, perceived exertion, and mobility performance using two different manual wheelchairs, during mobility tasks. A within-group 2 × 3 × 2 controlled experiment was designed with three independent and four dependent variables. The independent variables included wheelchairs, with the levels active wheelchair with a rigid frame and passive wheelchair with foldable frame; conditions with the levels straight line, slalom, and agility; and speed with levels comfortable and fast. Dependent variables included oxygen uptake (VO2), distance travelled, speed, and perceived exertion. Results show that the active wheelchair yielded more beneficial characteristics although only the effect of wheelchair type on VO2 efficiency (oxygen uptake per meter travelled) was statistically significant with a large effect size (F(1, 14) = 118.298, p < 0.001, η 2 = 0.541). The better VO2 efficiency was achieved with the active wheelchair under all tested conditions. The effect of wheelchair type on Borg scores was also statistically significant, although with a small effect size (F(1, 14) = 10.340, p = 0.006, η 2 = 0.119); thus, active wheelchair use had lower Borg scores under all trials and was considered less exhausting than the passive wheelchair. In summary, use of the active wheelchair resulted in the users expending less energy per meter travelled and at the same time experiencing less fatigue. This may benefit overall wheelchair mobility and possibly reduce health complications.

A glimpse into smartphone screen reader use among blind teenagers in rural Nepal.

PURPOSE: Access to appropriate assistive technology is a challenge worldwide and especially in low GDP-per-capita countries. Nepal is one example of a country with several coinciding challenges: some claim having a high rate of blindness in the general population, a low-GDP-per capita and some studies claim it has a low literacy rate, especially in rural areas. Without appropriate assistive technology, some disabled youth may not get full access to education. METHODS: To gain insight into assistive technology use in rural Nepal, five blind teenagers in a mixed secondary school with disabled and non-disabled students in rural Nepal were interviewed about their daily smartphone use. RESULTS: The results show that all the participants used screen readers on donated smartphones. None of the participants had received formal training in using smartphone screen readers and therefore lacked knowledge about basic and essential operational aspects of the devices as well as misguided expectations about the technology. CONCLUSIONS: One implication of the findings is that smartphone accessibility features training material needs to be made easily available to schools and all disabled youth worldwide, as smartphones are increasingly becoming available in low-income remote regions with low literacy rates. The built-in accessibility features of smartphones promise disabled youth a non-stigmatizing platform for social participation and access to the information society.Implications for RehabilitationThe built-in accessibility features of smartphones provide disabled youth a non-stigmatizing practical platform for social participation and access to education.Training material on how to use smartphone accessibility features needs to be made easily available to schools and all disabled youth worldwide.

Aesthetics and the perceived stigma of assistive technology for visual impairment.

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to identify factors that influence the perceived stigma of two assistive devices for visual impairment, namely the white cane and smart glasses. METHOD: Face-to-face semi-structured interviews with eight European students were conducted to probe their experiences and knowledge related to disability, assistive technology, visual impairment, as well as handheld and wearable devices. RESULTS: Close relationships with disabled people seems to have a positive influence on participants perceptions about stigma, disability, and assistive technology. Academic background seems to not have any influence. The aesthetics of assistive devices was observed as an important factor that influences the adoption or abandonment of the device. CONCLUSION: Device without negative symbolism but with modern aesthetics (smart glasses) were positively accepted by the participants than the device with traditional aesthetics and symbolisms of visual impairment (white cane). Designers should, therefore, consider aesthetics in addition to functionality in order to avoid the perceived stigma, thereby reducing the chances of device abandonment.IMPLICATIONS FOR REHABILITATIONUnderstanding the factors that influence the perceived stigma associated with assistive technology can help designers and developers to reduce assistive technology abandonment and perceived stigma.Designers need to consider both functionality and aesthetics. While functionality is crucial for the users' adaptation, aesthetics is important for the users' positive perceptions.

CANDIDATE: A tool for generating anonymous participant-linking IDs in multi-session studies.

BACKGROUND: To ensure the privacy of participants is an ethical and legal obligation for researchers. Yet, achieving anonymity can be technically difficult. When observing participants over time one needs mechanisms to link the data from the different sessions. Also, it is often necessary to expand the sample of participants during a project. OBJECTIVES: To help researchers simplify the administration of such studies the CANDIDATE tool is proposed. This tool allows simple, unique, and anonymous participant IDs to be generated on the fly. METHOD: Simulations were used to validate the uniqueness of the IDs as well as their anonymity. RESULTS: The tool can successfully generate IDs with a low collision rate while maintaining high anonymity. A practical compromise between integrity and anonymity was achieved when the ID space is about ten times the number of participants. IMPLICATIONS: The tool holds potential for making it easier to collect more comprehensive empirical evidence over time that in turn will provide a more solid basis for drawing reliable conclusions based on research data. An open-source implementation of the tool that runs locally in a web-browser is made available.

Strategies for Developing Students' Empathy and Awareness for the Needs of People with Disabilities: Contributions to Design Education.

The design of products for people with disabilities requires the understanding of a wide range of factors related to users' health, functional abilities, needs, expectations and preferences. Such multifactorial perspective is often perceived as beyond the reach by the students of both graphic and product design, as it comprises knowledge from different areas such are not usually part of design curriculum as health, rehabilitation, computer science and biomedical engineering. Here, we report on strategies for developing design students' empathy and awareness for the needs and expectations of people with disabilities. By means of a combination of theoretical and practical approaches, a course on Inclusive Design was developed as part of the regular curriculum of the Bachelor Programme in Design at Sao Paulo State University (UNESP, Bauru campus, Brazil), with the collaborative participation of members of SORRI BAURU Rehabilitation Center. The final projects developed by the students were based on the demands presented by SORRI BAURU's rehabilitation team, and results reveal that the theoretical-practical approach based on interdisciplinarity was shown to provide the design students a learning experience that, ultimately, supports the quality decision-making in the design process. This paper describes the pedagogical approach, theoretical contents and practical activities developed during the Inclusive Design course. The challenges, benefits, results, and contributions of this experience from the perspective of the design education are also discussed.

Servomotor Assistance in the Improvement of Manual Wheelchair Mobility.

This study reports the development of a servo-controlled power-assisted wheelchair, designed to reduce the loads on the upper limbs while maintaining the drivability of a manual chair. It is presented the concept and implementation of an assisted propulsion system, focusing on the assistance controlling and the torque transmission.

Effects of Optimizing the Scan-Path on Scanning Keyboards with QWERTY-Layout for English Text.

Scanning keyboards can be essential tools for individuals with reduced motor function. However, most research addresses layout optimization. Learning new layouts is time-consuming. This study explores the familiar QWERTY layout with alternative scanning paths intended for English text. The results show that carefully designed scan-paths can help QWERTY nearly match optimized layouts in performance.

Understanding WCAG2.0 Colour Contrast Requirements Through 3D Colour Space Visualisation.

Sufficient contrast between text and background is needed to achieve sufficient readability. WCAG2.0 provides a specific definition of sufficient contrast on the web. However, the definition is hard to understand and most designers thus use contrast calculators to validate their colour choices. Often, such checks are performed after design and this may be too late. This paper proposes a colour selection approach based on three-dimensional visualisation of the colour space. The complex non-linear relationships between the colour components become comprehendible when viewed in 3D. The method visualises the available colours in an intuitive manner and allows designers to check a colour against the set of other valid colours. Unlike the contrast calculators, the proposed method is proactive and fun to use. A colour space builder was developed and the resulting models were viewed with a point cloud viewer. The technique can be used as both a design tool and a pedagogical aid to teach colour theory and design.

Search, Read and Write: An Inquiry into Web Accessibility for People with Dyslexia.

Universal design in context of digitalisation has become an integrated part of international conventions and national legislations. A goal is to make the Web accessible for people of different genders, ages, backgrounds, cultures and physical, sensory and cognitive abilities. Political demands for universally designed solutions have raised questions about how it is achieved in practice. Developers, designers and legislators have looked towards the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) for answers. WCAG 2.0 has become the de facto standard for universal design on the Web. Some of the guidelines are directed at the general population, while others are targeted at more specific user groups, such as the visually impaired or hearing impaired. Issues related to cognitive impairments such as dyslexia receive less attention, although dyslexia is prevalent in at least 5-10% of the population. Navigation and search are two common ways of using the Web. However, while navigation has received a fair amount of attention, search systems are not explicitly included, although search has become an important part of people's daily routines. This paper discusses WCAG in the context of dyslexia for the Web in general and search user interfaces specifically. Although certain guidelines address topics that affect dyslexia, WCAG does not seem to fully accommodate users with dyslexia.

Designing GUIs for low vision by simulating reduced visual acuity: reduced resolution versus shrinking.

The visual uniqueness of information carrying icon and text elements has received little attention in the HCI research literature. The information carrying elements of graphical designs must be visually unique in order to be visually recognizable. This is increasingly important with the diversity of form factors and types of information displays. This paper explores two simple strategies for testing visual designs by simulating low visual acuity, namely by reducing the resolution and by shrinking. Two case studies demonstrate that low vision simulation by shrinking is more effective than reducing the resolution. Moreover, the case studies show how the low vision simulation can help identify design aspects that need attention. Design shrinking is not a substitute for user testing on actual user groups, but meant as a tool for early screening of designs and an aid for designers to help understand the effects of their design. The method can also be used as a tool for communicating design problems and justifying design decisions to stakeholders of a project through presentations and reports.

An intelligent subtitle detection model for locating television commercials.

A strategy for locating television (TV) commercials in TV programs is proposed. Based on the observation that most TV commercials do not have subtitles, the first stage exploits six subtitle constraints and an adaptive neurofuzzy inference system model to determine whether a frame contains a subtitle or not. The second stage involves locating the mark-in/mark-out points using a genetic algorithm. An interactive user interface allows users to efficiently identify and fine-tune the exact boundaries separating the commercials from the program content. Furthermore, erroneous boundaries are manually corrected. Experimental results show that the precision rate and recall rates exceed 90%.