Enhancing the Museum Experience for Visually Impaired People in Hong Kong: Haptic-audio Interaction Design (HAID)

Chan Meng Kheong (2017)

Visually impaired individuals face a lot of challenges in visually oriented environments. Particularly, it is discovered that museums in Hong Kong do not provide sufficient facilities and resources to help visually impaired visitors in terms of mobility and access to information about the exhibits. This research aims to investigate the possible ways that would help visually impaired and blind individuals to understand and construct mental images of two-dimensional exhibits. This study adopts a cross-modal interaction approach in which a conceptual tactile-audio paper prototype is developed. The prototype provides multisensory feedback to the visually impaired, enabling them to construct clearer mental images and ‘see’ the museum exhibits without touching the original exhibits. The results demonstrate an understanding of the value of tactual and audio interpretation of the visual information of museum exhibits as an accessible medium for visually impaired visitors. This study addresses the necessity to rethink the inclusive museum experience that takes visually impaired individuals into account.