Daedalus in the Dark: Designing for Non-Visual Accessible Construction of Laser-Cut Architecture
Journal
UIST 2021 - Proceedings of the 34th Annual ACM Symposium on User Interface Software and Technology
Pages
344-358
Date Issued
2021
Author(s)
Abstract
Design tools and research regarding laser-cut architectures have been widely explored in the past decade. However, such discussion has mostly revolved around technical and structural design questions instead of another essential element of laser-cut models - assembly - a process that relies heavily on components' visual affordance, therefore less accessible to blind or low vision (BLV) people. To narrow the gap in this area, we co-designed with 7 BLV people to examine their assembly experience with different laser-cut architectures. From their feedback, we proposed several design heuristics and guidelines for Daedalus, a generative design tool that can produce tactile aids for laser-cut assembly given a few high-level manual inputs. We validate the proposed aids in a user study with 8 new BLV participants. Our results revealed that BLV users can manage laser-cut assembly more efficiently with Daedalus. Going forth from this design iteration, we discuss implications for future research on accessible laser-cut assembly. ? 2021 ACM.
Subjects
Accessibility
Assembly
Assistive Technology
Fabrication
Laser Cutting
Prototyping
User-centered Design
Architecture
User centered design
Assistive technology
Design questions
Design research
Design tool
Essential elements
Laser cuts
Laser cutting
Low vision
Non visuals
Structural design
Type
conference paper