User friendly haptic tool for soccer fans with vision disabilities: Design and proof of concept

Loss of eyesight inflicts multiple difficulties in everyday lives’ tasks affecting not just the visually impaired but also their loved ones. The sense of being depleted by the otherwise visually perceived satisfaction from attending various events becomes a burden not just in terms of joy but also in relation to accompanying parties. The aim of this research work was to provide a worthy perceived experience of attending a soccer match with the company of a friend, centered at the visually impaired person’s needs and perspective. The methodology developed was based on a holistic approach combining a number of creative tools, in order to explore, visualize and evaluate the proposed solutions, with advanced CAD modeling, rendering techniques and 3D printing technology for improved representation and prototyping of the final product. Evaluation via multi-criteria decision-making casted the developed system as quite usable, suitable for assisting the visually impaired users in absorbing valuable information regarding the real time progress of a live soccer event using the selves-developed tactile interface. That way, visually impaired people are able to use the final product with a great deal of success and “feel the view” and the “time” in a variety of cases, allowing them to better enjoy attending an entertainment event, such as soccer, with the interactive company of a friend.