Interface for Automatic Tactile Display of Data Plots

Abstract

Graphical representation of mathematical functions is often inaccessible to blind people. There are methods to convert graphs into a tactile form, but this requires assistance, apart from manufacturing time and cost. In this paper, we present a system that enables blind people to independently display functions on a tactile display via a computer algebra system. Additional tools have been developed to further analyze a function (switchable axes, coordinate markers and zoom). To test the efficiency of the system, a pilot study was conducted with 5 blind participants. All participants were able to solve the tasks independently and were very positive about the system.