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Tactile Identification of Embossed Raised Lines and Raised Squares with Variable Dot Elevation by Persons Who Are Blind

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Abstract

We present a study on the identification accuracy of embossed tactile lines and squares in eight dot elevations and two dot densities. The results of correct and misclassified matched stimuli by ten congenitally blind participants are presented in confusion matrixes for the raised-dot lines and squares test stimuli. Moreover, the overall mean response time of the identification task is provided. Participants identify better the lower three dot elevations for both lines and squares on 20 or 10 dpi, with an exception for 20 dpi squares where the highest dot elevation is third in the order of recognition. The application of a multilevel model fitting to the data indicated significant effects for the role of the DOTs (raised dot lines versus raised dot squares) with the raised dot squares being associated with significantly elevated correct responding.

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Acknowledgement

This research has been undertaken under the project ATMAPS: “Specification of symbols used on audio-tactile maps for individuals with blindness” (Project No. 543316-LLP-1-2013-1-GR-KA3-KA3MP) [www.atmaps.eu] funded with support from the European Commission under the Lifelong Learning Programme. This publication reflects the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use, which may be made of the information contained therein.

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Correspondence to Georgios Kouroupetroglou .

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Kouroupetroglou, G., Martos, A., Papandreou, N., Papadopoulos, K., Argyropoulous, V., Sideridis, G.D. (2016). Tactile Identification of Embossed Raised Lines and Raised Squares with Variable Dot Elevation by Persons Who Are Blind. In: Miesenberger, K., Bühler, C., Penaz, P. (eds) Computers Helping People with Special Needs. ICCHP 2016. Lecture Notes in Computer Science(), vol 9759. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-41267-2_11

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-41267-2_11

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