Virtual Tactile Maps

Tactile maps constitute the media most commonly used by blind and partially sighted people for the exploration of spatial information. However, compared to maps for sighted people, they are inconvenient to produce and contain less information. We have developed methods and implemented them prototypically, by which visually impaired people can explore a geographical area flexibly with the help of a computer through virtual tactile maps. The design of a system is presented which captures hand positions through a video camera and produces acoustic output. It uses digital map data which is adapted to the requirements of the users. One of the most compelling problem is how to deal with the scale of a map, in particular the non-linearity of maps. In this paper, the development of the prototype and initial experience with it are presented.