Velin Dimitrov – VEMI Lab /vemi University of Maine Thu, 10 Aug 2023 19:12:09 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.8.5 The Autonomous Vehicle Assistant (AVA): Emerging technology design supporting blind and visually impaired travelers in autonomous transportation /vemi/publication/the-autonomous-vehicle-assistant-ava-emerging-technology-design-supporting-blind-and-visually-impaired-travelers-in-autonomous-transportation/ Thu, 10 Aug 2023 19:12:09 +0000 /vemi/?post_type=publication&p=3657 The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Inclusive Design Challenge spurred innovative research promoting accessible technology for people with disabilities in the future of autonomous transportation. This paper presents the user-driven design of the Autonomous Vehicle Assistant (AVA), a winning project of the challenge focused on solutions for people who are blind and visually impaired. Results from an initial survey (n = 90) and series of user interviews (n = 12) informed AVA’s novel feature set, which was evaluated through a formal navigation study (n = 10) and participatory design evaluations (n = 6). Aggregate findings suggest that AVA’s sensor fusion approach combining computer vision, last-meter assistance, and multisensory alerts provide critical solutions for users poised to benefit most from this emerging transportation technology.

Keywords: Autonomous vehicles, People with visual impairment, Accessibility

Citation: Paul D.S. Fink, Stacy A. Doore, Xue Lin, Matthew Maring, Pu Zhao, Aubree Nygaard, Grant Beals, Richard R. Corey, Raymond J. Perry, Katherine Freund, Velin Dimitrov, Nicholas A. Giudice, The Autonomous Vehicle Assistant (AVA): Emerging technology design supporting blind and visually impaired travelers in autonomous transportation,
International Journal of Human-Computer Studies, Volume 179, 2023, 103125, ISSN 1071-5819, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhcs.2023.103125

]]> Autonomous is Not Enough: Designing Multisensory Mid-Air Gestures for Vehicle Interactions Among People with Visual Impairments /vemi/publication/autonomous-is-not-enough-designing-multisensory-mid-air-gestures-for-vehicle-interactions-among-people-with-visual-impairments/ Thu, 10 Aug 2023 18:55:01 +0000 /vemi/?post_type=publication&p=3646 Should fully autonomous vehicles (FAVs) be designed inclusively and accessibly, independence will be transformed for millions of people experiencing transportation-limiting disabilities worldwide. Although FAVs hold promise to improve efficient transportation without intervention, a truly accessible experience must enable user input, for all people, in many driving scenarios (e.g., to alter a route or pull over during an emergency). Therefore, this paper explores desires for control in FAVs among (n=23) people who are blind and visually impaired. Results indicate strong support for control across a battery of driving tasks, as well as the need for multimodal information. These findings inspired the design and evaluation of a novel multisensory interface leveraging mid-air gestures, audio, and haptics. All participants successfully navigated driving scenarios using our gestural-audio interface, reporting high ease-of-use. Contributions include the first inclusively designed gesture set for FAV control and insight regarding supplemental haptic and audio cues.

Keywords: Spatial audio, Accessible design, Gestures, Autonomous vehicles, Interfaces for blind or visually impaired individuals, Situational awareness

Citation: Paul D. S. Fink, Velin Dimitrov, Hiroshi Yasuda, Tifany L. Chen, Richard R. Corey, Nicholas A. Giudice, and Emily S. Sumner. 2023. Autonomous is Not Enough: Designing Multisensory Mid-Air Gestures for Vehicle Interactions Among People with Visual Impairments . In Proceedings of the 2023 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI ’23), April 23– 28, 2023, Hamburg, Germany. ACM, New York, NY, USA, 13 pages. https: //doi.org/10.1145/3544548.3580762 International, USA. DOI: http://doi.org/10.54941/ahfe1003586

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