Dots: A Frugal Refreshable Tactile Dot Grid for Students with Visual Impairments

Dots: A Frugal Refreshable Tactile Dot Grid for Students with Visual Impairments

연구 분야: Infrastructure

학회: International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction

Disciplines such as mathematics, computer science, and economics rely heavily on visual representations, creating significant barriers for visually impaired (VI) students in classroom environments. Current assistive technologies are either prohibitively expensive, difficult to implement, or fail to provide immediate tactile feedback during live instruction. This paper introduces a novel tactile display system designed to bridge this accessibility divide through real-time conversion of visual content into tactile feedback. Our solution consists of an instructor-focused image capture and processing system and a student-focused 55 75 tactile pin matrix in an A4 format. The approach employs low-cost hardware components, open-source computer vision algorithms, and a modular design to create an affordable alternative to commercial solutions. Cost analysis confirms this system can be produced at approximately 25% of comparable commercial alternatives, potentially reducing participation barriers for VI students in STEM fields.