Problem
Research questions and friction points this paper is trying to address.
virtual reality
blind and low vision
accessible exploration
free-form discovery
non-visual feedback
VisionPulse: A Virtual Reality System Enabling Accessible Discovery and Navigation for Blind and Low Vision Users
🤖 AI Summary
Current virtual reality systems struggle to support free-form exploration for blind and low-vision users, as they typically rely on visual feedback or are constrained by predefined menus and audio beacons. This work proposes a discovery-driven interaction paradigm that leverages natural head and hand movements, integrating multimodal feedback—including responsive spatial audio, directional haptics, and text-to-speech—to enable progressive discovery and navigation of environments and objects. A user study (N=12) demonstrates that the system significantly enhances exploratory freedom, with participants strongly preferring its discovery-based interaction; notably, task performance and cognitive load remained unaffected. This study presents the first virtual reality system to support truly free-form exploration for people who are blind or have low vision.
📝 Abstract
Free exploration is an important aspect of many engaging virtual reality (VR) experiences, yet remains largely inaccessible to blind and low vision (BLV) users due to its reliance on visual feedback. Existing approaches support BLV navigation through prebuilt menus of environment and audio beacons, but offer limited support for free-form discovery. We present VisionPulse, an accessible VR system that enables BLV users to explore virtual environments through natural head and hand movements, combined with auditory, haptic, and text-to-speech feedback. VisionPulse introduces a discovery-driven approach that allows users to progressively uncover regions and objects, alongside navigation support through waypoint guidance and object localization via responsive audio and orientation-based haptics. A study with 12 BLV participants showed a strong preference for VisionPulse's discovery-based exploration and multimodal feedback, without negatively impacting task performance or perceived workload. Our findings underscore the importance of accessible, free-form VR experiences, and contribute insights for inclusive VR design.
Innovation
Methods, ideas, or system contributions that make the work stand out.
accessible VR
discovery-driven exploration
multimodal feedback
blind and low vision
haptic navigation
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