An environment for studying the impact of spatialising sonified graphs on data comprehension

We describe AudioCave, an environment for exploring the impact of spatialising sonified graphs on a set of numerical data comprehension tasks. Its design builds on findings regarding the effectiveness of sonified graphs for numerical data overview and discovery by visually impaired and blind students. We demonstrate its use as a test bed for comparing the approach of accessing a single sonified numerical datum at a time to one where multiple sonified numerical data can be accessed concurrently. Results from this experiment show that concurrent access facilitates the tackling of our set multivariate data comprehension tasks. AudioCave also demonstrates how the spatialisation of the sonified graphs provides opportunities for sharing the representation. We present two experiments investigating users solving set data comprehension tasks collaboratively by sharing the data representation

A generic approach for augmenting tactile diagrams with spatial non-speech sounds

Blind or visually impaired users typically access diagrams in the tactile medium. This paper describes TouchMelody, a system designed for augmenting such existing diagrams with 3D spatial auditory information to increase their usefulness, information content and reduce tactile clutter. The motivation for this system, an overview of its development and early experiences are presented. The two major technologies used are the Polhemus FASTRAK and the LakeDSP CP4 to facilitate the creation of a directly manipulated dynamic 3D spatial soundscape

Design guidelines for audio presentation of graphs and tables

Audio can be used to make visualisations accessible to blind and visually impaired people. The MultiVis Project has carried out research into suitable methods for presenting graphs and tables to blind people through the use of both speech and non-speech audio. This paper presents guidelines extracted from this research. These guidelines will enable designers to implement visualisation systems for blind and visually impaired users, and will provide a framework for researchers wishing to investigate the audio presentation of more complex visualisations

Exploring computer-generated line graphs through virtual touch

This paper describes the development and evaluation of a haptic interface designed to provide access to line graphs for blind or visually impaired people. Computer-generated line graphs can be felt by users through the sense of touch produced by a PHANToM force feedback device. Experiments have been conducted to test the effectiveness of this interface with both sighted and blind people. The results show that sighted and blind people have achieved about 89.95% and 86.83% correct answers respectively in the experiment