Accessing Passersby Proxemic Signals through a Head-Worn Camera: Opportunities and Limitations for the Blind

This page is created to present questions used in our corresponding paper, which will be published in ASSESTS 2021 with a title, Accessing Passersby Proxemic Signals through a Head-Worn Camera: Opportunities and Limitations for the Blind.

Abstract

The spatial behavior of passersby can be critical to blind individuals to initiate interactions, preserve personal space, or practice social distancing during a pandemic. Among other use cases, wearable cameras employing computer vision can be used to extract proxemic signals of others and thus increase access to the spatial behavior of passersby for blind people. Analyzing data collected in a study with blind (N=10) and sighted (N=40) participants, we explore: (i) visual information on approaching passersby captured by a head-worn camera; (ii) pedestrian detection algorithms for extracting proxemic signals such as passerby presence, relative position, distance, and head pose; and (iii) opportunities and limitations of using wearable cameras for helping blind people access proxemics related to nearby people. Our observations and findings provide insights into dyadic behaviors for assistive pedestrian detection and lead to implications for the design of future head-worn cameras and interactions.

Citation

This page is created for our corresponding paper. Please cite our paper if you find this page useful. Following is the BibText of our paper:

@inproceedings{lee2021accessing,
  title={Accessing Passersby Proxemic Signals through a Head-Worn Camera: Opportunities and Limitations for the Blind},
  author={Lee, Kyungjun and Sato, Daisuke and Asakawa, Saki and Asakawa, Chieko and Kacorri, Hernisa},
  booktitle={The 23rd International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility},
  year={2021},
  organization={ACM}
}

Pre-study Questions

Experience with wearable technology

• Have you ever used or tried any technology that you can wear such as a hat-mounted camera, a neck lanyard for your phone recording while in motion, or any other device worn on the body?
  • If yes, please indicate for each device; for how long you have used it, how often, and for what purpose.

Attitude towards technology

• I feel it is important to be able to find any information whenever I want through technology.
  • Strongly disagree–Strongly agree (1–7)
• I feel it is important to be able to access the Internet any time I want.
  • Strongly disagree–Strongly agree (1–7)
• I think it is important to keep up with the latest trends in technology.
  • Strongly disagree–Strongly agree (1–7)
• I get anxious when I don’t have my cell phone.
  • Strongly disagree–Strongly agree (1–7)
• I get anxious when I don’t have the Internet available to me.
  • Strongly disagree–Strongly agree (1–7)
• I am dependent on my technology.
  • Strongly disagree–Strongly agree (1–7)
• Technology will provide solutions to many of our problems.
  • Strongly disagree–Strongly agree (1–7)
• With technology anything is possible.
  • Strongly disagree–Strongly agree (1–7)
• I feel that I get more accomplished because of technology.
  • Strongly disagree–Strongly agree (1–7)
• New technology makes people waste too much time.
  • Strongly disagree–Strongly agree (1–7)
• New technology makes life more complicated.
  • Strongly disagree–Strongly agree (1–7)
• New technology makes people more isolated.
  • Strongly disagree–Strongly agree (1–7)

Attitude towards wearable technology

• I feel it is important to be able to access information any time I want through wearable technology such as smart glasses.
  • Strongly disagree–Strongly agree (1–7)
• Wearable technology such as smart glasses will provide solutions to many of our problems.
  • Strongly disagree–Strongly agree (1–7)
• With wearable technology anything is possible.
  • Strongly disagree–Strongly agree (1–7)
• Wearable technology such as smart glasses is awkward.
  • Strongly disagree–Strongly agree (1–7)
• Wearable technology such as smart glasses makes interactions more complicated.
  • Strongly disagree–Strongly agree (1–7)
• Wearable technology such as smart glasses is invasive.
  • Strongly disagree–Strongly agree (1–7)

Post-study Questions

Attitude towards wearable technology

• I feel it is important to be able to access information any time I want through wearable technology such as smart glasses.
  • Strongly disagree–Strongly agree (1–7)
• Wearable technology such as smart glasses will provide solutions to many of our problems.
  • Strongly disagree–Strongly agree (1–7)
• With wearable technology anything is possible.
  • Strongly disagree–Strongly agree (1–7)
• Wearable technology such as smart glasses is awkward.
  • Strongly disagree–Strongly agree (1–7)
• Wearable technology such as smart glasses makes interactions more complicated.
  • Strongly disagree–Strongly agree (1–7)
• Wearable technology such as smart glasses is invasive.
  • Strongly disagree–Strongly agree (1–7)

Open-ended questions

• How confident do you feel that our prototype system successfully recognized the names of the known people? Why/Why not?
• How confident do you feel that our prototype system successfully detected features of a person? Why/Why not?
• What is one thing that was challenging in using our prototype system?
• What is one thing that was easy in using our prototype system?
• What did you like about our prototype system?
• What did you not like about our prototype system?
• What did you do when you were not sure that the feedback was right?
• What information (feedback) about a person do you think such a system should provide at a minimum?
• What information (feedback) about a person do you think such a system can provide at a maximum?
• What other information about a person would you like such a system to detect?
• Between the more specific mode A and the less specific mode B, which one would you prefer most? Why? Mode A: 1) Emily, 20 feet away 2) Male, 20s , 10 feet away, looking at you, on the left Mode B: 1) Emily, far 2) Male, young, near, looking at you, on the left
• How would you think the system feedback could be further improved?
• Would you use a system that is similar to our prototype system if available in the future? Why or Why not?
• What other situation do you think such a system would be helpful?

Funding

The work was supported, in part, by grant number 90REGE0008 (Inclusive ICT Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center), from the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR), U.S. Administration for Community Living, Department of Health and Human Services, and by grant from Shimizu Corporation.