skip to main content
US FlagAn official website of the United States government
dot gov icon
Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.
https lock icon
Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock ( lock ) or https:// means you've safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Explore Research Products in the PAR
It may take a few hours for recently added research products to appear in PAR search results.


Title: SocialCueSwitch: Towards Customizable Accessibility by Representing Social Cues in Multiple Senses
In virtual environments, many social cues (e.g. gestures, eye contact, and proximity) are currently conveyed visually or auditorily. Indicating social cues in other modalities, such as haptic cues to complement visual or audio signals, will help to increase VR’s accessibility and take advantage of the platform’s inherent flexibility. However, accessibility implementations in social VR are often siloed by single sensory modalities. To broaden the accessibility of social virtual reality beyond replacing one sensory modality with another, we identified a subset of social cues and built tools to enhance them allowing users to switch between modalities to choose how these cues are represented. Because consumer VR uses primarily visual and auditory stimuli, we started with social cues that were not accessible for blind and low vision (BLV) and d/Deaf and hard of hearing (DHH) people, and expanded how they could be represented to accommodate a number of needs. We describe how these tools were designed around the principle of social cue switching, and a standard distribution method to amplify reach.  more » « less
Award ID(s):
2236054
PAR ID:
10581110
Author(s) / Creator(s):
; ; ; ; ; ; ;
Publisher / Repository:
ACM
Date Published:
ISBN:
9798400703317
Page Range / eLocation ID:
1 to 7
Subject(s) / Keyword(s):
code sharing accessibility sensory substitution collaborative development
Format(s):
Medium: X
Location:
Honolulu HI USA
Sponsoring Org:
National Science Foundation
More Like this
  1. ; ; ; ; (, IEEE)
    As virtual reality (VR) technology sees more use in various fields, there is a greater need to understand how to effectively design dynamic virtual environments. As of now, there is still uncertainty in how well users of a VR system are capable of tracking moving targets in a virtual space. In this work, we examined the influence of sensory modality and visual feedback on the accuracy of head-gaze moving target tracking. To this end, a between subjects study was conducted wherein participants would receive targets that were visual, auditory, or audiovisual. Each participant performed two blocks of experimental trials, with a calibration block in between. Results indicate that audiovisual targets promoted greater improvement in tracking performance over single-modality targets, and that audio-only targets are more difficult to track than those of other modalities. 
    more » « less
  2. ; ; ; ; ; (, Frontiers in Virtual Reality)
    null (Ed.)
    Technological advancements and increased access have prompted the adoption of head- mounted display based virtual reality (VR) for neuroscientific research, manual skill training, and neurological rehabilitation. Applications that focus on manual interaction within the virtual environment (VE), especially haptic-free VR, critically depend on virtual hand-object collision detection. Knowledge about how multisensory integration related to hand-object collisions affects perception-action dynamics and reach-to-grasp coordination is needed to enhance the immersiveness of interactive VR. Here, we explored whether and to what extent sensory substitution for haptic feedback of hand-object collision (visual, audio, or audiovisual) and collider size (size of spherical pointers representing the fingertips) influences reach-to-grasp kinematics. In Study 1, visual, auditory, or combined feedback were compared as sensory substitutes to indicate the successful grasp of a virtual object during reach-to-grasp actions. In Study 2, participants reached to grasp virtual objects using spherical colliders of different diameters to test if virtual collider size impacts reach-to-grasp. Our data indicate that collider size but not sensory feedback modality significantly affected the kinematics of grasping. Larger colliders led to a smaller size-normalized peak aperture. We discuss this finding in the context of a possible influence of spherical collider size on the perception of the virtual object’s size and hence effects on motor planning of reach-to-grasp. Critically, reach-to-grasp spatiotemporal coordination patterns were robust to manipulations of sensory feedback modality and spherical collider size, suggesting that the nervous system adjusted the reach (transport) component commensurately to the changes in the grasp (aperture) component. These results have important implications for research, commercial, industrial, and clinical applications of VR. 
    more » « less
  3. ; (, Journal of Experimental Biology)
    null (Ed.)
    ABSTRACT Studies have shown that bats are capable of using visual information for a variety of purposes, including navigation and foraging, but the relative contributions of visual and auditory modalities in obstacle avoidance has yet to be fully investigated, particularly in laryngeal echolocating bats. A first step requires the characterization of behavioral responses to different combinations of sensory cues. Here, we quantified the behavioral responses of the insectivorous big brown bat, Eptesicus fuscus, in an obstacle avoidance task offering different combinations of auditory and visual cues. To do so, we utilized a new method that eliminates the confounds typically associated with testing bat vision and precludes auditory cues. We found that the presence of visual and auditory cues together enhances bats' avoidance response to obstacles compared with cues requiring either vision or audition alone. Analyses of flight and echolocation behaviors, such as speed and call rate, did not vary significantly under different obstacle conditions, and thus are not informative indicators of a bat's response to obstacle stimulus type. These findings advance the understanding of the relative importance of visual and auditory sensory modalities in guiding obstacle avoidance behaviors. 
    more » « less
  4. ; ; ; ; (, Proceedings of the 7th International Workshop on Sign Language Translation and Avatar Technology (SLTAT 7))
    Efthimiou, E.; Fotinea, S-E.; Hanke, T.; McDonald, J.; Shterionov, D.; Wolfe, R. (Ed.)
    With improved and more easily accessible technology, immersive virtual reality (VR) head-mounted devices have become more ubiquitous. As signing avatar technology improves, virtual reality presents a new and relatively unexplored application for signing avatars. This paper discusses two primary ways that signed language can be represented in immersive virtual spaces: 1) Third-person, in which the VR user sees a character who communicates in signed language; and 2) First-person, in which the VR user produces signed content themselves, tracked by the head-mounted device and visible to the user herself (and/or to other users) in the virtual environment. We will discuss the unique affordances granted by virtual reality and how signing avatars might bring accessibility and new opportunities to virtual spaces. We will then discuss the limitations of signed content in virtual reality concerning virtual signers shown from both third- and first-person perspectives. 
    more » « less
  5. ; ; ; ; (, Scientific Reports)
    Abstract Research about vection (illusory self-motion) has investigated a wide range of sensory cues and employed various methods and equipment, including use of virtual reality (VR). However, there is currently no research in the field of vection on the impact of floating in water while experiencing VR. Aquatic immersion presents a new and interesting method to potentially enhance vection by reducing conflicting sensory information that is usually experienced when standing or sitting on a stable surface. This study compares vection, visually induced motion sickness, and presence among participants experiencing VR while standing on the ground or floating in water. Results show that vection was significantly enhanced for the participants in the Water condition, whose judgments of self-displacement were larger than those of participants in the Ground condition. No differences in visually induced motion sickness or presence were found between conditions. We discuss the implication of this new type of VR experience for the fields of VR and vection while also discussing future research questions that emerge from our findings. 
    more » « less
  • Citation Formats
  • MLA
  • APA
  • Chicago
  • BibTeX
  • Save / Share this Record
  • Send to Email