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The present study investigates the efficiency of haptic search facilitated by the division of the searchable area. Previous studies have shown that scales provided around tactile maps for blind persons can shorten the search time for tactile symbols on the maps, but the optimum number of divisions has not been found. We conducted an experiment in which maps with different numbers of divisions were presented to blindfolded participants. The search times for tactile targets on the maps were measured and a movie that recorded searching behavior was analyzed. Our results indicate that scales with 3 × 4 divisions minimize search time, and the movie analysis reveals that this optimization is determined by the time of both scalecounting and target-searching. This finding elucidates the manner of human haptic search and should be utilized for the optimization of automated tactile map creation.

SUMMARYMany text entry methods are available in the use of touch interface devices when using a screen reader, and blind smartphone users and their supporters are eager to know which one is the easiest to learn and the fastest. Thus, we compared the text entry speeds and error counts for four combinations of software keyboards and character-selecting gestures over a period of five days. The split-tap gesture on the Japanese numeric keypad was found to be the fastest across the five days even though this text entry method produced the most errors. The two entry methods on the QWERTY keyboard were slower than the two entry methods on the numeric keypad. This difference in text entry speed was explained by the differences in key pointing and tapping times and their repitition numbers among different methods. key words: blind people, touchscreen, text entry, software keyboard, screen reader, keystroke level model

In order to assist blind people in using a flat touchscreen, “virtual” tactile dots which feedback either of or both speech and vibration when touched have been proposed. In this paper, we investigated their effectiveness in map reading application. We conducted two experiments with eight blind participants in which participants perceived the distance and direction between two virtual tactile dots. Their results show that the perception of distance and direction by virtual tactile dots was accurate enough. However, the search time for these dots was significantly longer than that for real tactile dots. This search time issue made us conclude that the reading and vibrating tactile map is not practical.

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