Visualize your robot with your eyes closed: A multi-modal interactive approach using environmental feedback

In this paper, we discuss an approach for enabling students with a visual impairment (VI) to validate the program sequence of a robotic system operating in the real world. We introduce a method that enables the person with VI to feel their robot's movement as well as the environment in which the robot is traveling. The design includes a human-robot interaction framework that utilizes multi-modal feedback to transfer the environmental perception to a human user with VI. Haptic feedback and auditory feedback are selected as primary methods for user interaction. Using this multi-modal sensory feedback approach, participants are taught to program their own robot to accomplish varying navigation tasks. We discuss and analyze the implementation of the method as deployed during two summer camps for middle-school students with visual impairment.