Gesture-Based Interactive Audio Guide On Tactile Reliefs

For blind and visually impaired people, tactile reliefs offer many benefits over the more classic raised line drawings or tactile diagrams, as depth, 3D shape and surface textures are directly perceivable. However, without proper guidance some reliefs are still difficult to explore autonomously.In this work, we present a gesture-controlled interactive audio guide (IAG) based on recent low-cost depth cameras that operates directly on relief surfaces. The interactively explorable, location-dependent verbal descriptions promise rapid tactile accessibility to 2.5D spatial information in a home or education setting, to on-line resources, or as a kiosk installation at public places.We present a working prototype, discuss design decisions and present the results of two evaluation sessions with a total of 20 visually impaired test users.