Understanding Visual Arts Experiences of Blind People

Visual arts play an important role in cultural life and provide access to social heritage and self-enrichment, but most visual arts are inaccessible to blind people. Researchers have explored different ways to enhance blind people’s access to visual arts (e.g., audio descriptions, tactile graphics). However, how blind people adopt these methods remains unknown. We conducted semi-structured interviews with 15 blind visual arts patrons to understand how they engage with visual artwork and the factors that influence their adoption of visual arts access methods. We further examined interview insights in a follow-up survey (N=220). We present: 1) current practices and challenges of accessing visual artwork in-person and online (e.g., Zoom tour), 2) motivation and cognition of perceiving visual arts (e.g., imagination), and 3) implications for designing visual arts access methods. Overall, our findings provide a roadmap for technology-based support for blind people’s visual arts experiences. Skip Supplemental Material Sectio

Remote Health Monitor

The goal of the Remote Health Monitor (RHM) is to collect a patient’s health data and manage them. Patients can be monitored from anywhere there is internet access. The RHM measures parameters such as temperature and pulse, and transmits the information to the database located in the hospital. The database can be accessed through a software application that will be provided along with the purchase of RHM. The application can be logged in to either as a doctor or as a patient, thus allowing the care providers to monitor a patient’s health condition and the patients to review their own medical history.  Our goal in implementing RHM is to provide chronic disease patients with an easy to use device that will help them track health information without going to the hospital, and to allow doctors to review the patient data with a software application that organizes and updates information automatically.&nbsp