Improving Accessibility of Elevation Control in an Immersive Virtual Environment

Improving Accessibility of Elevation Control in an Immersive Virtual Environment

Qorbani, Hossain Samar (Carleton University)
Abdinejad, M. (TU Delft ChemE/Materials for Energy Conversion and Storage)
Arya, Ali (Carleton University)
Joslin, Chris (Carleton University)

2022

Despite the advances made in Virtual Reality (VR) technology, the design of VR experiences lacks sufficient focus on accessibility and inclusion as the primary requirements. These are especially important for STEM education, where engaging in experiential activities is essential. This study was conducted to investigate accessibility considerations in the design and development of Immersive VR (IVR) learning spaces for wheelchair users. The specific research question is: How can we make a VR system easier to interact with for wheelchair users needing vertical movement? A user study with thirty (30) participants in three groups was conducted: Group A (the control group, non-wheelchair users) who used natural body movement to interact with the environment, Group B (verification group, non-wheelchair users) who used software controls for accessibility, and Group C (wheelchair users) who used the same software accessibility feature. The results indicate that the accessibility feature enabled wheelchair users to complete the tasks requiring raising or lowering of the body, with almost similar levels of completion rate and accuracy.

Human-centered computing
Learning
Virtual Reality
VR Accessibility

http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:e497618b-9179-429d-8f06-cf9243b53ba9

https://doi.org/10.1109/AIVR56993.2022.00012

IEEE

2023-07-30

9781665457255

Proceedings - 2022 IEEE International Conference on Artificial Intelligence and Virtual Reality, AIVR 2022

5th IEEE International Conference on Artificial Intelligence and Virtual Reality, AIVR 2022, 2022-12-12 → 2022-12-14, Virtual, Online, United States

Proceedings - 2022 IEEE International Conference on Artificial Intelligence and Virtual Reality, AIVR 2022

Green Open Access added to TU Delft Institutional Repository ‘You share, we take care!’ – Taverne project https://www.openaccess.nl/en/you-share-we-take-care Otherwise as indicated in the copyright section: the publisher is the copyright holder of this work and the author uses the Dutch legislation to make this work public.

Institutional Repository

conference paper

© 2022 Hossain Samar Qorbani, M. Abdinejad, Ali Arya, Chris Joslin