Literature Reviews

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

• AR Haptic-Audio Conversion for Non-Visual Product Understanding in Smartphone AR

  Satomi Tokida, Ayaka Tsutsui, Norimasa Kobori, Matthew Gillingham, Bektur Ryskeldiev (2026) — Extended Abstracts of the 2026 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI EA '26)

  Tokida and colleagues (Mercari R4D, University of Tokyo, University of Tsukuba) tackle a specific gap in e-commerce accessibility: the AR 'view-in-room' features now common in online marketplaces (IKEA Place, Amazon AR View) assume sighted interactio…

  • blind and low vision
  • augmented reality
  • mobile AR
  • haptics
  • vibrotactile
  • e-commerce accessibility
  • multimodal interaction
  • non-visual interaction

• Fuzzy Feelings: Arousal's Interpretive Noise and the Case for Acoustic-Based Haptics

  Caluã de Lacerda Pataca, Stephanie Patterson, Roshan L Peiris, Matt Huenerfauth (2026) — CHI '26: Proceedings of the 2026 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems

  This CHI 2026 paper from a team at Rochester Institute of Technology and Birmingham City University tackles a persistent gap in captioning: traditional captions carry words but strip the emotional tone, rhythm, and vocal affect that sighted hearing v…

  • captioning
  • expressive captions
  • haptic feedback
  • vibrotactile
  • affective computing
  • speech emotion recognition
  • deaf and hard of hearing
  • DHH
  • arousal
  • valence
  • multimodal accessibility
  • prosody

• UbiBraille: Designing and Evaluating a Vibrotactile Braille-Reading Device

  Hugo Nicolau, João Guerreiro, Tiago Guerreiro, Luís Carriço (2013) — Proceedings of the 15th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (Assets '13)

  This paper presents UbiBraille, a wearable vibrotactile device that enables blind users to read textual information privately and inconspicuously by leveraging their existing knowledge of Braille. The device consists of six small vibration motors att…

  • braille
  • vibrotactile
  • wearable technology
  • blind users
  • haptic feedback
  • assistive technology
  • privacy
  • deafblindness
  • communication
  • Arduino
  • text entry

• The Blind Driver Challenge: Steering Using Haptic Cues

  Burkay Sucu, Eelke Folmer (2014) — Proceedings of the 16th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers & Accessibility (ASSETS)

  This paper presents a haptic steering interface that enables blind individuals to steer a vehicle on a track using vibrotactile cues, addressing the National Federation of the Blind's 2004 "Blind Driver Challenge." While self-driving vehicles could t…

  • blindness
  • haptic feedback
  • mobility
  • autonomous vehicles
  • driving
  • sensory substitution
  • simulation
  • vibrotactile

• Multimodal Perception of Histological Images for Persons Who Are Blind or Visually Impaired

  Ting Zhang, Bradley S. Duerstock, Juan P. Wachs (2017) — ACM Transactions on Accessible Computing

  This research addresses a critical barrier preventing blind or visually impaired (BVI) students and scientists from participating in STEM laboratory work: the inability to perceive real-time visual scientific data from instruments like light microsco…

  • blindness
  • STEM accessibility
  • sensory substitution
  • haptic feedback
  • multimodal interface
  • microscopy
  • scientific visualization
  • vibrotactile

• Exploring Haptic Colour Identification Aids

  Richard Nguyen, Connor Geddes (2019) — Proceedings of the 21st International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS)

  This poster paper presents two novel haptic devices — ColourWrist and ColourVest — designed to help people with Colour Vision Deficiency (CVD) identify colors through tactile feedback. Approximately 8% of males and 0.5% of females have some form of C…

  • colour vision deficiency
  • haptic feedback
  • sensory substitution
  • wearable technology
  • vibrotactile
  • color blindness
  • assistive technology
  • color identification

• Playing with Feeling: Exploring Vibrotactile Feedback and Aesthetic Experiences for Developing Haptic Wearables for Blind and Low Vision Music Learning

  Leon Lu, Jin Kang, Chase Crispin, Audrey Girouard (2023) — Proceedings of the 25th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2023)

  This paper explores how musical haptic wearables (MHWs) using vibrotactile feedback can support music learning for blind and low-vision (BLV) people, and investigates the role of material aesthetics in shaping the user experience of such devices. The…

  • blind and low vision
  • assistive technology
  • haptic feedback
  • vibrotactile
  • music learning
  • co-design
  • wearable technology
  • material experience