Helping Blind People Grasp: Evaluating a Tactile Bracelet for Remotely Guiding Grasping Movements

Abstract

The problem of supporting visually impaired and blind people in meaningful interactions with objects is often neglected. To address this issue, we adapted a tactile belt for enhanced spatial navigation into a bracelet worn on the wrist that allows visually impaired people to grasp target objects. Participants’ performance in locating and grasping target items when guided using the bracelet, which provides direction commands via vibrotactile signals, was compared to their performance when receiving auditory instructions. While participants were faster with the auditory commands, they also performed well with the bracelet, encouraging future development of this system and similar systems.

Keywords

• blindness
• visual impairment
• assistive technology
• tactile bracelet
• grasping
• sensory augmentation