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An Exploratory Study on the Low Adoption Rate of Smart Canes

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Universal Access in Human-Computer Interaction. User and Context Diversity (HCII 2022)

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Abstract

People who are blind and visually impaired (BVI) primarily rely on white canes for everyday mobility. Smart canes were introduced to address the limitations of traditional white canes and to inform users of their surroundings more efficiently. While the smart cane’s advantages are evident, these devices are not used often in the BVI community. To gain a better understanding of the low adoption rate, we spoke with orientation and mobility specialists for some background on BVI mobility, conducted a survey to gauge user awareness and initial perceptions of the smart cane, and interviewed 16 participants for an in-depth view regarding their smart cane experiences. While most of the participants’ apprehension was based on initial product cost, we found that other factors like user personality, durability, battery life, experience bias, as well as the lack of awareness from the users all contribute to the low adoption rate of smart canes. As such, our findings are structured based on four main themes: (1) Impact of Participant Characteristics on Adoption, (2) Perceived Advantages and Disadvantages, (3) Product-Related Concerns, and (4) Building Trust. We contribute a user-centered investigation on the merits of the smart cane and suggestions for future design considerations based on user feedback.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, NY, 14623, USA

    Rezylle Milallos, Vinita Tibdewal, Yiwen Wang, Andre Udegbe & Tae Oh

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  1. Rezylle Milallos
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  2. Vinita Tibdewal
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  3. Yiwen Wang
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  4. Andre Udegbe
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  5. Tae Oh
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Correspondence to Rezylle Milallos .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Foundation for Research and Technology - Hellas (FORTH), Heraklion, Crete, Greece

    Margherita Antona

  2. University of Crete and Foundation for Research and Technology - Hellas (FORTH), Heraklion, Crete, Greece

    Constantine Stephanidis

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Milallos, R., Tibdewal, V., Wang, Y., Udegbe, A., Oh, T. (2022). An Exploratory Study on the Low Adoption Rate of Smart Canes. In: Antona, M., Stephanidis, C. (eds) Universal Access in Human-Computer Interaction. User and Context Diversity. HCII 2022. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 13309. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-05039-8_36

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-05039-8_36

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-031-05038-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-031-05039-8

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