Finding Inclusion in VR Design
Although virtual reality was originally conceived of as a multi-sensory experience, most developers of the technology have focused on its visual aspects to the detriment of other senses such as hearing
This design decision excludes BVIs from experiencing VR and bars them from getting involved in the evolution of immersive tech systems
This paper presents design patterns to make virtual reality fully accessible to non-visual users, including totally blind users
Mentored By
Bruce Walker
bruce.walker@psych.gatech.edu
Problem
Although it is possible for VR to include tactile and auditory experiences, VR has traditionally placed primary emphasis on the visual modality. This unfortunately makes most VR experiences inaccessible to blind or visually-impaired (BVI) users
The lack of haptic feedback, and alternate ways to access information that is communicated through visual stimuli, makes BVI users unable to fully participate and successfully navigate virtual environments
As VR begins to be used for a growing number of social and professional applications, the urgency to design the technology in ways that meet the needs of a wider range of potential users is growing as well
Methods
This report presented non-visual design patterns created by five of the top English-speaking audio game developers through a three-round Delphi method, encompassing 29 non-verbal social interactions grouped into 12 categories in VR including Locative Movement, Camera Positions, Facial Control, Multi-Avatar Interactions, Gesture and Posture, Avatar Mannerisms, Conventional Communication, Avatar Appearance, Avatar-Environment Interactions, Full-Body Interactions, Environment Appearance, and Non-Body Communication
Each of the 29 interactions was defined and placed into a spreadsheet with an additional row under each of the twelve top areas for additional comments
Results
Analysis of the codes indicated that many traditional VR development platforms are completely inaccessible to BVI developers. This has meant that BVIs have needed to build their own game engines along with their games
There are also less than a thousand audio game developers in the world (there are only 829 audio games). If a company is serious about diversity and inclusion, it needs to be proactive and flexible in developer recruitment and reach out to BVI developers
View Analyses of Non-Visual Design Patterns
Discussion
There has been confusion around how to make VR accessible to BVIs, which has led to almost no accessible mainstream VR environments. The design patterns presented in this article have, for the most part, been rigorously tested in the commercial market and are in frequent use within the audio game community
There can and should be further research performed to perfect these designs, but these are a baseline that VR interfaces should meet before experimenting with new interface conventions