Haptic wave: A cross-modal interface for visually impaired audio producers

Atau Tanaka & Adam Parkinson. 2016.

Proceedings of the 2016 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems

We present the Haptic Wave, a device that allows cross-modal mapping of digital audio to the haptic domain, intended for use by audio producers/engineers with visual impairments. We describe a series of participatory design activities adapted to non-sighted users where the act of prototyping facilitates dialog. A series of workshops scoping user needs, and testing a technology mock up and lo-fidelity prototype fed into the design of a final high-spec prototype. The Haptic Wave was tested in the laboratory, then deployed in real world settings in recording studios and audio production facilities. The cross-modal mapping is kinesthetic and allows the direct manipulation of sound without the translation of an existing visual interface. The research gleans insight into working with users with visual impairments, and transforms perspective to think of them as experts in non-visual interfaces for all users.

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Citation

Tanaka, A., & Parkinson, A. (2016). Haptic wave: a cross-modal interface for visually impaired audio producers. Proceedings of the 2016 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (pp. 2150–2161).

BibTeX

@inproceedings{tanaka2016haptic, title={Haptic wave: A cross-modal interface for visually impaired audio producers}, author={Tanaka, Atau and Parkinson, Adam}, booktitle={Proceedings of the 2016 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems}, pages={2150--2161}, year={2016} }