>
>I do not know anything about this other than the
>article – but thought it would be of wide interest.
>
>
>Gregg
> -- ------------------------------
>Gregg C Vanderheiden Ph.D.
>
>
>
>*Researchers Develop Adaptive Technology for Visually Impaired Engineers*
>
>FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - By adding features to
>commonly used chemical-engineering software
>packages, researchers at the University of
>Arkansas, the University of Akron and
>Chemstations Inc. have developed adaptive
>technology that allows blind or visually
>impaired students and working professionals to
>perform the essential functions of chemical-engineering process design.
>
>Led by Bob Beitle, professor of chemical
>engineering in the College of Engineering at the
>University of Arkansas, the research team
>created a system that combines tactile,
>Braille-like representations that can be "read"
>by visually impaired chemical engineers. The
>system also includes an audio, screen-reading
>component and audible indicators of certain
>software functions. Researchers have also
>overcome a major obstacle associated with the
>user function of dragging and dropping or
>copying and pasting. A tablet computer with a
>customized overlay, a tablet pen functioning as
>a computer mouse, and alignment holes mapped to
>the tactile objects help facilitate the
>drag-and-drop function, which is the method that connects unit operations.
>
>"We are far enough into this project for me say
>that we have significantly minimized the
>differences between visually impaired and
>sighted engineers who do process design," Beitle
>said. "While we haven't eliminated all
>differences, we have reached a point where a
>blind chemical engineer can conduct himself as
>any engineer by manipulating process-engineering
>software to achieve improvements or investigate alternatives."
>
>The system has been extensively tested at a
>process-engineering firm by Noel Romey, a
>graduate student in the Ralph E. Martin
>Department of Chemical Engineering. Romey, who
>has been blind since birth, came to the
>university to study chemical engineering. Since
>May, he has tested the system by simulating and
>designing various chemical facilities. The
>extensive designs are used by clients of the
>design firm to improve manufacturing systems.
>
>The teaching and practice of
>chemical-engineering design traditionally has
>had a strong visual component due to many visual
>tools that describe concepts and processes. This
>reality, combined with the fact that
>industry-specific software does not include any
>adaptive-technology features, means that
>professors and engineering professionals have
>little experience with visually impaired
>students, which may contribute to blind and
>visually impaired students avoiding the profession.
>
>Beitle's team converted GUIs into TUIs. GUI
>stands for graphical user interface, which
>describes software that relies heavily on icons
>and visual tools to represent concepts,
>functions and processes. Of course, behind any
>GUI are codes programmed to execute various user
>commands, such as opening programs or dragging
>documents. To accommodate those who can't rely
>on visual cues, the researchers had to alter
>this visually dependent system into something
>that could be felt - a tactile user interface.
>Their system includes a TabletPC or CintiQ -
>personal computers/screens that simulate
>notepads - and a pen-based mouse. Most
>importantly, the system uses custom-made
>tactiles - small objects embossed with patterns
>that represent various GUI icons that symbolize
>parts, such as valves, pumps and reactors - and
>an overlay that is placed on the screen. The
>tactiles adhere to the overlay. Alignment holes
>on the tactiles allow users to place them at
>desired locations on the overlay and thus build
>process-flow diagrams. Tactile and graphical
>interfaces are the same size because when a
>tactile is clicked, the design is built on the computer screen under it.
>
>In addition to the computer modifications, the
>research project has an equally important
>psychological component, one that Beitle thinks
>will help both sighted and visually impaired
>engineers. Whether in the classroom or at an
>engineering firm, engineers must work as a team
>on design projects. This reality made Beitle
>think about the importance of language and the
>verbal exchange of information between blind and
>sighted professionals. How can design team
>members convey technical information when a
>visual diagram cannot be relied upon?
>
>To answer this question, Beitle and his design
>students collaborated with Douglas Behrend,
>professor and chair of the psychology department
>in the J. William Fulbright College of Arts and
>Sciences, and Rachel Schwartz, a psychology
>graduate student. Led by Schwartz and Behrend,
>who is an expert in cognitive and language
>development, the researchers studied individuals
>with different communication styles and measured
>the reliance on vague language, visual cues and
>gestures. When working with Romey, sighted
>students seemed to modify patterns of
>communication styles in ways that suggested they
>were considering the dynamics of working with a
>visually impaired colleague. Behrend said this
>may be explained by group members using
>metacognition, which psychologists broadly refer
>to as individuals' knowledge of and about their
>own and others' cognitive processes.
>
>"This added dimension of this project will
>prepare sighted members of a design team to
>communicate effectively in a technical fashion
>with less reliance on visual cues," Beitle said.
>
><http://dailyheadlines.uark.edu/11589.htm>http://dailyheadlines.uark.edu/11589.htm
>
>
>*Contact:*
>
>Bob Beitle, professor of chemical engineering,
>Louis Owen Professor of Green Chemical Process
>Design and Development, Ralph E. Martin department of chemical engineering
>College of Engineering
>(479) 575-7566, rbeitle@uark.edu <mailto:rbeitle@uark.edu>
>
>Douglas Behrend, professor and chair, department of psychology
>J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences
>(479) 575-4256, dbehrend@uark.edu <mailto:dbehrend@uark.edu>
>
>Matt McGowan, science and research communications officer
>University Relations
>(479) 575-4246, dmcgowa@uark.edu <mailto:dmcgowa@uark.edu>
>
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