Does Embodiment Matter to Biomechanics and Function? A Comparative Analysis of Head-Mounted and Hand-Held Assistive Devices for Individuals with Blindness and Low Vision

Fuente: arXiv
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Auteurs principaux: Seth, Gaurav, Pham, Hoa, Hamilton-Fletcher, Giles, Leclercq, Charles, Rizzo, John-Ross
Format: Preprint
Publié: 2025
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author Seth, Gaurav
Pham, Hoa
Hamilton-Fletcher, Giles
Leclercq, Charles
Rizzo, John-Ross
author_facet Seth, Gaurav
Pham, Hoa
Hamilton-Fletcher, Giles
Leclercq, Charles
Rizzo, John-Ross
contents Visual assistive technologies, such as Microsoft Seeing AI, can improve access to environmental information for persons with blindness or low vision (pBLV). Yet, the physical and functional implications of different device embodiments remain unclear. In this study, 11 pBLV participants used Seeing AI on a hand-held smartphone and on a head-mounted ARx Vision system to perform six activities of daily living, while their movements were captured with Xsens motion capture. Functional outcomes included task time, success rate, and number of attempts, and biomechanical measures included joint range of motion, angular path length, working volume, and movement smoothness. The head-mounted system generally reduced upper-body movement and task time, especially for document-scanning style tasks, whereas the hand-held system yielded higher success rates for tasks involving small or curved text. These findings indicate that both embodiments are viable, but they differ in terms of physical demands and ease of use. Incorporating biomechanical measures into assistive technology evaluations can inform designs that optimise user experience by balancing functional efficiency, physical sustainability, and intuitive interaction.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2509_18391
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Does Embodiment Matter to Biomechanics and Function? A Comparative Analysis of Head-Mounted and Hand-Held Assistive Devices for Individuals with Blindness and Low Vision
Seth, Gaurav
Pham, Hoa
Hamilton-Fletcher, Giles
Leclercq, Charles
Rizzo, John-Ross
Human-Computer Interaction
Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition
K.4.2; H.5.2; I.3.6
Visual assistive technologies, such as Microsoft Seeing AI, can improve access to environmental information for persons with blindness or low vision (pBLV). Yet, the physical and functional implications of different device embodiments remain unclear. In this study, 11 pBLV participants used Seeing AI on a hand-held smartphone and on a head-mounted ARx Vision system to perform six activities of daily living, while their movements were captured with Xsens motion capture. Functional outcomes included task time, success rate, and number of attempts, and biomechanical measures included joint range of motion, angular path length, working volume, and movement smoothness. The head-mounted system generally reduced upper-body movement and task time, especially for document-scanning style tasks, whereas the hand-held system yielded higher success rates for tasks involving small or curved text. These findings indicate that both embodiments are viable, but they differ in terms of physical demands and ease of use. Incorporating biomechanical measures into assistive technology evaluations can inform designs that optimise user experience by balancing functional efficiency, physical sustainability, and intuitive interaction.
title Does Embodiment Matter to Biomechanics and Function? A Comparative Analysis of Head-Mounted and Hand-Held Assistive Devices for Individuals with Blindness and Low Vision
topic Human-Computer Interaction
Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition
K.4.2; H.5.2; I.3.6
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2509.18391