Graduation project Hanze XRlab

Screenshot of the final prototype

Project description

My graduation project was done for the XRlab at the Hanze (Groningen).

The goal of this project was making VR more accessible for blind and visually impaired people through the use of haptic feedback.

Specifically, how haptic feedback could be used to communicate which buttons on a menu are which.

This project was done for the XRlab in collaboration with Visio in Haren.

Research

For this project I did research into multiple different VR devices and their haptic feedback capabilities. Additionally, research was conducted into different haptic feedback options.

These findings concluded into the usage of the Meta Quest 3, as this VR headset and controllers were best suited for the specific goal of the project.

This was due to the Meta Haptic Studio that Meta released for the Quest 3, this tool enabled the rapid production of haptics for the Quest 3.

Prototypes

During the project multiple different prototypes were created each with different goals for testing. These tests were conducted with multiple different testers, some of which were blind or visually impaired.

-The first prototype was made with the goal of testing what vibrations were best suited for communication.

-The second prototype was made to test if the haptic systems were reliable and comprehensive enough to communicate information to the user

-The third prototype was to test if my findings from the previous tests were correct, and to gain additional information from the target audience

-The final prototype was created to showcase the possibilities of haptic feedback in VR for communication

Demo

This final prototype was used for my end demonstration and was a small minigame where the user would feel two different vibrations. Each of these vibrations are linked to a direction in the minigame where the user would need to identify the vibration and press the correct direction.

Findings

In the end I concluded that haptics alone isn’t enough to communicate information to a blind or visually impaired person, and that it could be used as an accessibility feature.

Additionally, I concluded that there should be more testing and research conducted into this topic as it is relatively new.