Non-visual programming, perceptual culture and mulsemedia: case studies of five blind computer programmers
31 Dec 2011-pp 80-98
TL;DR: This chapter describes an investigation into the premise that blind programmers and web-developers can create modern Graphical User Interfaces (GUI) through perceptions of MulSeMedia, and whether perceptual culture has a role in this understanding.
Abstract: This chapter describes an investigation into the premise that blind programmers and web-developers can create modern Graphical User Interfaces (GUI) through perceptions of MulSeMedia, and whether perceptual culture has a role in this understanding. Its purpose it to: 1) investigate whether the understanding of computer interfaces is related to perceptual culture as well as perceptual ability; 2) investigate whether it is possible for a person who has never seen to understand visual concepts in informational technology through non-visual senses and memories; and 3) provoke questions as to the nature of computer interfaces, and whether they can ever be regarded as MulSeMedia style interfaces. Beyond this, it proposes to: 1) inform accessible MulSeMedia interface design; and 2) investigate the boundaries of accessing computer interfaces through non-visual perceptions and memories. In order to address these aims and objectives, this chapter discusses the following two research questions:1) Is the perceptual culture of a blind person as important as physical level of blindness in being able to understand, work with, learn how to use or create and program Graphical User Inerfaces (GUIs)?2) Can a cultural model of understanding blindness in part explain the difficulties in adapting Windows MulSeMedia applications for blind people? The study found that programmers who had been introduced to, and educated using a range of visual, audio and /or tactile devices, whether early or late blind, could adapt to produce code with GUIs, but programmers who were educated using only tactile and audio devices preferred to shun visual references in their work.
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TL;DR: In this article, the authors examine the philosophical, social and cultural roots of touch exhibitions in British museums during the Twentieth Century and conclude that touch should only be used as one of a number of multimodal approaches to museum access, and people with disabilities of sight should be considered according to their individual needs.
Abstract: This article examines the philosophical, social and cultural roots of touch exhibitions in British museums during the Twentieth Century. The theory and practice of these exhibitions was influenced more by cultural tradition, and political and social guidance, than by the needs of the majority of people with disabilities of sight. In particular, a theory of the use of touch was derived from pedagogies developed in schools for the blind, which were themselves influenced by a philosophy of enlightenment from the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. This pedagogical and theoretical approach does not serve people with disabilities of sight well. The study concludes that touch should only be used as one of a number of multimodal approaches to museum access, and people with disabilities of sight should be considered according to their individual needs. Keywords: blindness, disabilities of sight, touch, tactile, museums, galleries, exhibitions, access, enlightenment, philosophy, schools for the blind, pedagogy
14 citations
Cites background from "Non-visual programming, perceptual ..."
...…usable vision, live most of their lives with visual culture and importantly still have what has been referred to in previous studies of blindness and cognition as a largely visual memory (Sacks 2011; Hayhoe 2011; Lowenfeld 1981); i.e., much of their conscious memory is in the form of visual images....
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...Thus it appears that the significant majority of people with disabilities of sight in the UK still have some usable vision, live most of their lives with visual culture and importantly still have what has been referred to in previous studies of blindness and cognition as a largely visual memory (Sacks 2011; Hayhoe 2011; Lowenfeld 1981); i....
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TL;DR: In this paper, two case studies of students from the California School for the Blind studying artworks in museums and on the web are discussed, and it is argued that there is a bridge between sensing an object and understanding it that is beyond perceptions.
Abstract: Two case studies of students from California School for the Blind studying artworks in museums and on the Web are discussed. The analysis focuses on the traditional understanding that unreachable artworks in the museum are deciphered by non-intellectual elites primarily from the perspective of visual perception and museums are simple vessels of art, as contended by Ernst Gombrich and Pierre Bourdieu, and that exclusion is either passive or active. It is also argued that there is a bridge between sensing an object and understanding it that is beyond perceptions. The article concludes that the two students featured in the case studies were more likely to be passively rather than actively excluded from unreachable and two-dimensional artworks, and that they could still develop a symbolic intellectual and emotional connection with these artworks and the museum through verbal descriptions and being in their presence.
11 citations
Cites methods from "Non-visual programming, perceptual ..."
...These were tested in previous studies of visually impaired computer programmers (Hayhoe, 2011a, 2011b, 2012a), as it was found that those with different levels of vision and memory had significantly contrasting life experiences....
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06 Mar 2019
TL;DR: In this article, a survey of the literature on cross-modal transfer of cognition and blindness is presented, and it is concluded that methodologies used in the study of cross modal transfer rarely developed a useful epistemology of blindness or promoted the social inclusion of people with visual impairments.
Abstract: This chapter addresses the question: Has the methodology of cross-modal transfer affected our theory of cognition and blindness to the detriment of the majority of people with visual impairments? In order to address this question, philosophical and psychological literature in the date range 1688–2008 is surveyed, and methodologies are analysed using an epistemological model of blindness. It is concluded that methodologies used in the study of cross-modal transfer rarely developed a useful epistemology of blindness or promoted the social inclusion of people with visual impairments. Instead, studies often conflated moral philosophy, intellect and perception for political and religious motives. Two possible solutions to these problems are suggested: first, methodology in the study of philosophy and psychology needs to accommodate a spectrum of variables affecting visual impairment; second, philosophers and psychologists need to do more to promote the inclusion and understanding of blindness itself, rather than trying to make broad points about the mind and deficit.
9 citations
Cites background from "Non-visual programming, perceptual ..."
...For instance, writers have observed the contemporary study of blindness and cross-modal transfer often refers to the Protestant English and Irish enlightenment (Gregory, 1974, 1987; Paulson, 1987; Jay, 1994; Hayhoe, 2003, 2015) although Hayhoe (2015), Paulson (1987) and Jay (1994) also argue that similar political...
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...What’s more, this reliance on touch in colleges and the workplace has also restricted life-chances and often led people with visual impairments to believe they are incapable of vocational, intellectual or artistic activities (see for example, Hayhoe, 2008, 2011)....
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01 Jan 2010
TL;DR: This chapter presents systems that use speech technology to emulate the one-on-one interaction a student can get from a virtual instructor and investigates the portability of the e-learning system across a mobile platform.
Abstract: Web-based learning is rapidly becoming the preferred way to quickly, efficiently, and economically create and deliver training or educational content through various communication media. This chapter presents systems that use speech technology to emulate the one-on-one interaction a student can get from a virtual instructor. A Web-based learning tool, the Learn IN Context (LINC+) system, designed and used in a real mixed-mode learning context for a computer (C++ language) programming course taught at the Université de Moncton (Canada) is described here. It integrates an Internet Voice Searching and Navigating (IVSN) system that helps learners to search and navigate both the web and their desktop environment through voice commands and dictation. LINC+ also incorporates an Automatic User Profile Building and Training (AUPB&T) module that allows users to increase speech recognition performance without having to go through the long and fastidious manual training process. New Automated Service Agents based on the Artificial Intelligence Markup Language (AIML) are used to provide naturalness to the dialogs between users and machines. The portability of the e-learning system across a mobile platform is also investigated. The findings show that when the learning material is delivered in the form of a collaborative and voice-enabled presentation, the majority of learners seem to be satisfied with this new media, and confirm that it does not negatively affect their cognitive load. DOI: 10.4018/978-1-60566-934-2.ch010
8 citations
References
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Book•
14 Jun 1993
TL;DR: The author explores the multi-method case study as a serious strategy alongside field experimentation and the survey, with an even-handed coverage of qualitative and quantitative approaches.
Abstract: This book advice looks at carrying out real world research. The emphasis is on rigour and trustworthiness utilising a systematic procedures appropriate to the task. The author explores the multi-method case study as a serious strategy alongside field experimentation and the survey, with an even-handed coverage of qualitative and quantitative approaches. A final section covers issues in 'making an impact' including different approaches to reporting, the place of enquiry in promoting change, and the relative roles of practitioners and researchers.
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Book•
01 Jan 2000
TL;DR: The Moral Career of the Qualitative Fieldworker Scripts and Staging the Self Back Regions and Sensitive Methods and Ethics and the Emotional Self Textual 'Impression Management' of Self and Others are studied.
Abstract: Introduction The Moral Career of the Qualitative Fieldworker Scripts and Staging the Self Back Regions and Sensitive Methods Roles and Role Performance Ethical Dilemmas The Demands and Expectations of Various Audiences Field Notes Ethics and the Emotional Self Textual 'Impression Management' of Self and Others Conclusion
243 citations
TL;DR: The results of three experiments compared congenitally blind and sighted adults and children on tasks presumed to involve visual imagery in memory challenge Paivio's theory and suggest either (a) that the visual imagery used by the sighted is no more facilitating than the abstract semantic representations using by the blind or (b) thatThe sighted are not using visual imagery.
Abstract: Three experiments compared congenitally blind and sighted adults and children on tasks presumed to involve visual imagery in memory. In all three, the blind subjects' performances were remarkably similar to the sighted. The first two experiments examined Paivio's (1971) modality-specific imagery hypothesis. Experiment 1 used a paired-associate task with words whose referents were high in either visual or auditory imagery. The blind, like the sighted, recalled more high-visual-imagery pairs than any others. Experiment 2 used a free-recall task for words grouped according to modality-specific attributes, such as color and sound. The blind performed as well as the sighted on words grouped by color. In fact, the only consistent deficit in both experiments occurred for the sighted in recall of words whose referents are primarily auditory. These results challenge Paivio's theory and suggest either (a) that the visual imagery used by the sighted is no more facilitating than the abstract semantic representations used by the blind or (b) that the sighted are not using visual imagery. Experiment 3 used Neisser and Kerr's (1973) imaging task. Subjects formed images of scenes in which target objects were described as either visible in the picture plane or concealed by another object and thus not visible. On an incidental recall test for the target objects, the blind, like the sighted, recalled more pictorial than concealed targets. This finding suggests that the haptic images of the blind maintain occlusion just as the visual images of the sighted do. Language: en
130 citations
23 Mar 2000
TL;DR: The Debates in Psychology series on touch, representation, and blindness as mentioned in this paper provides an overview of the current state of the art in these areas. But, as noted above, there remains an important theoretical divide.
Abstract: Psychological studies of touch and blindness have been fraught with controversy. Within this field there remains an important theoretical divide. Many researchers have taken a cognitive approach to the study of touch and blindness, relating these to higher order processes, such as memory and concept formation. Others adopt a theoretical perspective, arguing that it not necessary to consider the 'internal representation' of the stimuli, when investigating touch - thus people make use of information from the physical biomechanical properties of their limbs as they assess the physical properties of objects. In addition, psychologists differ in the relative importance they place on the modality of sensory stimulation for subsequent perceptual experiences. Some psychologists argue that touch can do many of the things that are accomplished by vision, and claim that the mode of sensory stimulation is not critically important for perception, arguing that much information can be obtained through non-visual modalities. Others suggest that there are important consequences of a lack of visual experience, arguing for the importance of multiple forms of sensory input for conceptual development. New to the Debates in Psychology series, "Touch, Representation, and Blindness" brings together the leading investigators in these areas, each presenting the evidence for their side of the debate. An introductory chapter sets the theoretical and h historical stage for the debate, and a concluding chapter draws together the different views and ideas set forth by the contributors, summarizing and resolving the discussion.Contents Introduction. Mental imagery in the blind. Modality and mind. Explaining the ability to recognise pictures via touch: Axis theory. Dynamic touch and rotational dynamics. Conclusions
103 citations
Book•
31 Aug 2010
TL;DR: This publication is an essential read for professionals, researchers, and students in the field of kansei information processing and soft computing providing both theoretical and practical viewpoints of research in humanized technology.
Abstract: Kansei Engineering and Soft Computing: Theory and Practice offers readers a comprehensive review of kansei engineering, soft computing techniques, and the fusion of these two fields from a variety of viewpoints. It explores traditional technologies, as well as solutions to real-world problems through the concept of kansei and the effective utilization of soft computing techniques. This publication is an essential read for professionals, researchers, and students in the field of kansei information processing and soft computing providing both theoretical and practical viewpoints of research in humanized technology.
78 citations