An Assistive Haptic System Towards Visually Impaired Computer Science Learning

Abstract

Our goal is to present an initial concept of a novel haptic system to aid the learning of visual impairment in the context of computer science, with a focus on the representation and contextualization of digital images. Our system is divided in three stages, being: a software that receives the input images; an intermediate interface that creates an alternative representation for the visually impaired; and output devices for tactile and auditory representation. As proof of concept, an initial prototype of recognition of geometric shapes was developed, in which the haptic system was represented by a matrix of LEDs. Empirical evaluations were carried out of the prototype. The preliminary results show that the prototype achieves satisfactory representations, even though some points must be reviewed, such as a suitable display size. With this work, the proof of concept obtained indicates that the proposed system has potential to assist the visually impaired in computer science learning.