Self-assembled thin films as alternative surface textures in assistive aids with users who are blind
Date
2024-09-05
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Journal of Materials Chemistry B
Abstract
Current tactile graphics primarily render tactile information for blind users through physical features, such as raised bumps or lines. However, the variety of distinctive physical features that can be created is effectively saturated, and alternatives to these physical features are not currently available for static tactile aids. Here, we explored the use of chemical modification through self-assembled thin films to generate distinctive textures in tactile aids. We used two silane precursors, n-butylaminopropyltrimethoxysilane and n-pentyltrichlorosilane, to coat playing card surfaces and investigated their efficacy as a tactile coating. We verified the surface coating process and examined their durability to repeated use by traditional materials characterization and custom mesoscale friction testing. Finally, we asked participants who were both congenitally blind and braille-literate to sort the cards based on touch. We found that participants were able to identify the correct coated card with 82% accuracy, which was significantly above chance, and two participants achieved 100% accuracy. This success with study participants demonstrates that surface coatings and surface modifications might augment or complement physical textures in next-generation tactile aids.
Description
This article was originally published in Journal of Materials Chemistry B. The version of record is available at: https://doi.org/10.1039/D4TB01646G.
This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry 2024.
This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported Licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/).
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Citation
Swain, Zachary, Maryanne Derkaloustian, Kayla A. Hepler, Abigail Nolin, Vidhika S. Damani, Pushpita Bhattacharyya, Tulaja Shrestha, Jared Medina, Laure V. Kayser, and Charles B. Dhong. “Self-Assembled Thin Films as Alternative Surface Textures in Assistive Aids with Users Who Are Blind.” Journal of Materials Chemistry B 12, no. 39 (2024): 10068–81. https://doi.org/10.1039/D4TB01646G.