A tangible representation of vectors: focused on physics and visually impaired people

Abstract

Vision impairment (VI) impacts the autonomy of millions of Brazilians and constitutes the most prevalent type of disability in Brazil, according to the Instituto brasileiro de geografia e estatística (IBGE). This work presents a solution utilizing both physical and computational representations to mitigate limitations caused by VI (specifically blindness) in the context of physics vector modeling. It proposes a novel approach to vector representation through a TUI, enhancing user autonomy by automating processes that previously required constant assistance. Furthermore, the proposed approach aimed to address the real needs of visually impaired users by centering development activities on them and incorporating the results of validation interviews into the decision-making process. Finally, a deployment phase indicated that, while the solution requires usability adjustments, it is sufficiently assistive to enable users to represent vectors, offering a promising outlook for the adoption of this approach in more advanced assistive vector modeling solutions in the future.