Literature Reviews

Reviewed research papers, articles, and publications relevant to digital accessibility.

• Reimagining Wearable AR Gesture Design: Physical Therapy Reasoning in Everyday Contexts

  Wei Wu, Binyan Xu, Soonhyeon Kweon, Yujie Wang, Leanne Chukoskie, Casper Harteveld (2026) — Proceedings of the 2026 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI '26)

  This CHI 2026 paper reimagines gesture vocabularies for lightweight, everyday augmented reality (AR) glasses — the emerging category of optical see-through wearables (e.g., Snap Spectacles, Meta Orion, Ray-Ban Meta) that are entering consumer and wor…

  • augmented reality
  • gesture interaction
  • wearable technology
  • physical therapy
  • ergonomics
  • motor skills
  • interaction design
  • social acceptability
  • user elicitation

• Beyond Omakase: Designing Shared Control for Navigation Robots with Blind People

  Rie Kamikubo, Seita Kayukawa, Yuka Kaniwa, Allan Wang, Hernisa Kacorri, Hironobu Takagi, Chieko Asakawa (2025) — Proceedings of the 2025 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI '25)

  Kamikubo and colleagues investigate how autonomous navigation robots for blind users should balance robot autonomy against user control, arguing that current systems default to what they call 'omakase' — a Japanese term meaning 'I leave it to you' — …

  • assistive robotics
  • blindness and low vision
  • human-robot interaction
  • social robot navigation
  • shared control
  • autonomy
  • agency
  • museum accessibility
  • social acceptability
  • inclusive design

• Field Trials of Autonomous Navigation Robot for Visually Impaired People

  Hironobu Takagi, Kakuya Naito, Daisuke Sato, Masayuki Murata, Seita Kayukawa, Chieko Asakawa (2025) — Extended Abstracts of the CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI EA '25)

  This paper reports field trials of AI Suitcase, an autonomous navigation robot shaped like a conventional carry-on suitcase and designed to guide blind and visually impaired (BVI) travellers safely through unfamiliar public spaces. The system traces …

  • assistive robotics
  • blindness and low vision
  • navigation
  • indoor navigation
  • wayfinding
  • field study
  • museum accessibility
  • social acceptability
  • human-robot interaction

• Design of and Subjective Response to On-body Input for People with Visual Impairments

  Uran Oh, Leah Findlater (2014) — Proceedings of the 16th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers & Accessibility (ASSETS)

  This paper investigates on-body input — using the skin as an input surface — as an alternative or complement to touchscreen interaction for people with visual impairments. Since blind users do not need the visual display of a mobile device, on-body i…

  • mobile accessibility
  • on-body interaction
  • gesture interaction
  • blindness
  • wearable technology
  • eyes-free interaction
  • social acceptability
  • input methods

• "Wear It Loud": How and Why Hearing Aid and Cochlear Implant Users Customize Their Devices

  Halley P. Profita, Abigale Stangl, Laura Matuszewska, Sigrunn Sky, Raja Kushalnagar, Shaun K. Kane (2018) — ACM Transactions on Accessible Computing (TACCESS)

  This paper investigates why and how hearing aid and cochlear implant users aesthetically customize their devices, exploring the intersection of assistive technology, identity, and social acceptability. The research addresses a significant problem: he…

  • hearing aids
  • cochlear implants
  • deafness
  • DIY assistive technology
  • social acceptability
  • stigma
  • self-expression
  • online communities
  • identity

• "Siri Talks at You": An Empirical Investigation of Voice-Activated Personal Assistant (VAPA) Usage by Individuals Who Are Blind

  Ali Abdolrahmani, Ravi Kuber, Stacy M. Branham (2018) — Proceedings of the 20th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2018)

  This UMBC and UC Irvine study is one of the first to examine how individuals who are blind use voice-activated personal assistants (VAPAs) like Siri, Amazon Echo, and Google Home, and what barriers they encounter. The researchers interviewed 14 legal…

  • blindness
  • voice interface
  • voice assistant
  • Siri
  • Amazon Echo
  • Google Home
  • smart speaker
  • mobile accessibility
  • privacy
  • social acceptability