RESUMEN
People who are blind struggle to gauge water levels in bottles by weight alone. This work shows that combining information about a filled bottle's weight and center of gravity can enhance the accuracy of measuring the water level. Bumps were attached to the sides of cylindrical bottles at positions corresponding to the centers of gravity of water levels between 4 and 9. These bumps allow individuals to use additional information about the center of gravity to measure the water level in the bottle. Eight subjects who were blind participated in the experiment, and the results indicated that using the center of gravity method with a plastic bottle was the most accurate, with an average water level error of 0.04, but it took 57.83 seconds. Contrarily, using the weight method, the plastic bottle yielded the fastest results, with an average time of 6.51 seconds, but it led to an average water level error of 0.88.
RESUMEN
To determine the water level in a container, people who are blind use electronic aids or the sound and weight of poured water. In this work, three non-powered containers were designed to assist blind people in detecting the level of hot water in a container. Their effectiveness was evaluated and compared with that of an unaugmented control container. The capacities of the designed containers and the control container were 800 mâ. The results reveal that, when blind participants poured 400 mâ of water into the containers, they could determine the volume of water in two of the designed containers with smaller average errors (13.03 mâ and 26.88 mâ) than in the control container (36.60 mâ). One of the designs also attracted positive scores for all satisfaction-related variables and was improved in response to feedback on its prototypes.
Asunto(s)
Personas con Daño Visual , Agua , Humanos , SonidoRESUMEN
The aim of this study is to determine whether swiping the ripple wall of a container can help blind people to measure the water level in it. Swiping the ripples on the wall of a container above the water level produces a different sound from doing so below the water level, and this difference in sound may be able to indicate the level of water in the container. Such sound differences associated with 27 3 D-printed containers with a capacity of 500 ml and various forms were recorded. One of the printed containers and a commercially available beverage container were tested by blind people to measure water levels in three operations. The experimental results reveal that the thickness of the wall affected the sound most strongly. The errors in the estimated water levels were significantly smaller when the containers was lifted and swiped than when it was lifted only. Practitioner summary: Lifting only is used by blind people to judge the fullness of a container. The experimental results reveal that the errors in the estimated water levels were significantly smaller when blind people lifted and swiped a 500 ml container with a ripple wall than when it was lifted only. Abbreviations: FA I: fast adapting fibers I; FA II: fast adapting fibers II; SA I: slowly adapting fibers I; SA II: slowly adapting fibers II.
Asunto(s)
Utensilios de Comida y Culinaria , Diseño de Equipo , Sonido , Personas con Daño Visual/rehabilitación , Agua , Adulto , Anciano , Ergonomía , Femenino , Humanos , Masculino , Persona de Mediana Edad , Impresión Tridimensional , Adulto JovenRESUMEN
Blind people adopt their remaining intact senses to perceive the world for tasks such as determining the water level in a bowl. Pouring water into a bowl generates water sounds and echoes reflected in the bowl. This research develops a bowl with increased echo (called an echo bowl), and analyzes the accuracy of water levels perceived by visually impaired people using a container or a kettle to pour water into a common bowl or an echo bowl. The analysis of factors of pouring and filled equipment indicates that the container has a significantly lower water level error than the kettle when pouring water. The water level error with different combinations of equipment is smallest when pouring water from the container to the echo bowl, and largest when pouring water from the kettle to the common bowl. This work also analyzes the sound of pouring water from the equipment by a simple linear regression analysis, and uses it to interpret the results of the pouring experiment.