CHS: Small: Rethinking Haptic-Based Remote Communication Leveraging the DeafBlind Community's Tactile Intuitions

Saint Louis University, Saint Louis MO

Investigators

Abstract

How would persons with 2 sensory losses - vision and hearing - communicate? They have to rely on another sense for that - touch. In contrast, the current environment is saturated with communication technologies that are skewed toward the visual and auditory channels. Individuals talk on mobile phones, chat via video conferencing, or message through various texting applications. Without being physically present with one another, individuals can connect in a variety of ways. Despite advances in new technologies, rich touch feedback is largely missing in remote communication tools. Most often, touch feedback is used as a cueing mechanism such as through vibrations that alert the user about the arrival of a message but convey little of its content. The omission of touch feedback prevents many new technologies from capturing the social and emotional dimensions of the experience and leaves new technologies inaccessible to those who rely on touch as a primary means of communication. This project rethinks touch-based, remote communication by leveraging the tactile intuitions of the protactile DeafBlind (DB) community. From this innovative community, a new language is emerging that enables humans to communicate with one another solely through touch. This project, in partnership with the DB community, aims to understand the core functions of intuitive, touch-based communication signals. Findings will inform the design of new wearable devices that attempt to replicate these touch-based profiles for richer remote communication experiences for all individuals. The research goals of this project are to (a) understand how core components of local and remote interaction can be re-routed through the tactile sensory channel and (b) design technology which will support such re-routings by expanding and reinforcing the tactile capacities of its users. To accomplish these aims, anthropological approaches to communication are synthesized with engineering to drive the design of a wearable haptic device that enables core functions of communication via tactile feedback. Using rapid ethnography coupled with haptic systems design, this work will establish guidelines for tactile-based communication schemes while creating a platform from which independent remote communication among DB individuals can evolve and richer communication experiences for all individuals are possible. This project will increase the general understanding of the tactile channel as a primary mode of communication. It will also advance understanding of human abilities to communicate in multimodal ways, promoting optimal information transfer when all senses are available and promoting higher standards for access of information when sensory differences exist. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.