1. Exploratory in situ evaluation of the OptiBand: A haptic navigation aid for spatial perception.
- Author
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Bontula, Anisha, Crider, Jai'La Lee, Mayoral, Rafael Morales, and Fitter, Naomi T.
- Subjects
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SENSES , *RESEARCH funding , *DATA analysis , *INTERVIEWING , *QUESTIONNAIRES , *PRODUCT design , *TREATMENT effectiveness , *BIOFEEDBACK training , *EMOTIONS , *ASSISTIVE technology , *COMMERCIAL product evaluation , *SURVEYS , *THEMATIC analysis , *RESEARCH , *RESEARCH methodology , *FRIEDMAN test (Statistics) , *ANALYSIS of variance , *STATISTICS , *TRUST , *BLINDNESS , *SPACE perception , *LOW vision , *MEDICAL equipment reliability , *PATIENTS' attitudes , *EMPLOYEES' workload , *ACTIVITIES of daily living - Abstract
BACKGROUND: Vision impairments affect the ability to navigate environments and gain spatial perception of one's surroundings. Existing navigation aids typically provide close-range information, but not feedback on farther distances (i.e., beyond 5 m from the user). OBJECTIVE: To address this gap, the OptiBand, a custom assistive device, was previously designed with a stakeholder who is blind. The OptiBand uses Lidar sensing and haptic feedback to relay information on objects up to 15 m away. In this paper, we sought to evaluate the efficacy of the OptiBand with an in situ user study. METHODS: N = 9 participants (eight blind and one low-vision) used the OptiBand for a period of three months. Users periodically rated spatial perception workload and trust of their assistive navigation aids (at first as a baseline without the OptiBand, and then with the OptiBand). RESULTS: The OptiBand tended to yield lower workload requirements and similar trust levels compared to existing navigation aids. Interview data demonstrated the usefulness of the OptiBand in selected day-to-day tasks such as navigating outdoors and maintaining appropriate interpersonal spacing. CONCLUSIONS: This work provides evidence on benefits of and potential uses of assistive navigation aids like the OptiBand. Researchers interested in similar devices can benefit from our efforts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2024
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