Throughhand: 2d tactile interaction to simultaneously recognize and touch multiple objects

Abstract

Users with visual impairments fnd it difcult to enjoy real-time 2D interactive applications on the touchscreen. Touchscreen applica-tions such as sports games often require simultaneous recognition of and interaction with multiple moving targets through vision. To mitigate this issue, we propose ThroughHand, a novel tactile inter-action that enables users with visual impairments to interact with multiple dynamic objects in real time. We designed the Through-Hand interaction to utilize the potential of the human tactile sense that spatially registers both sides of the hand with respect to each other. ThroughHand allows interaction with multiple objects by enabling users to perceive the objects using the palm while pro-viding a touch input space on the back of the same hand. A user study verifed that ThroughHand enables users to locate stimuli on the palm with a margin of error of approximately 13 mm and efectively provides a real-time 2D interaction experience for users with visual impairments.