Recording of Fingertip Position on Tactile Picture by the Visually Impaired and Analysis of Tactile Information

It is strenuous to make the visually impaired recognize figures and shapes. It is because there is a lack of understanding about how the visually impaired perceive tactile information. The aim of this research is to elucidate the process by which the visually impaired understand graphics. We video-record touch sensing process. First, the position of the fingertip is detected, and the trajectory of the finger is recorded. Later, using the video-record the locus of the finger is quantified and analyzed. We propose a quantification method for touch sensing. How many times the finger touched and on which part of the figure, finger movement direction, and speed, and the distance between the left and right fingers. The final goal of this research is to visualize cognitive process of figures and shapes by the visually impaired. The result could be used to translate figures, and shapes into languages. This will contribute to information acquisition by the visually impaired.