Dissertation defense (December 13, 2022): Helder Yukio Okuno
Student: Helder Yukio Okuno
Title: Multisensorial Audiobooks: model, development, and implementation of a new reading experience for visually impaired usersL
Advisor: Gustavo Paiva Guedes e Silva
Committee: Gustavo Paiva Guedes e Silva (CEFET/RJ), Glauco Amorim (CEFET/RJ), Maria da Graça Pimentel (USP)
Day/Time: December 13, 2022 / 8:30 a.m.
Abstract: The development of assistive technology solutions for visually impaired individuals is essential, especially in the educational area, as it provides integration into society, autonomy, and social and digital inclusion. Several functionalities in this field have been developed, such as screen readers (e.g., TalkBack on Android and VoiceOver on iPhone), allowing individuals with visual impairments greater autonomy, such as exchanging instant messages and listening to narrated stories, such as audiobooks. In 2011, the World Health Organization highlighted in the World Report on Disability the importance of assistive technology solutions such as audiobooks. Inspired by this report, the present work proposes to improve the reading of traditional audiobooks by applying the concepts of Multiple Sensorial Media (MulSeMedia), given that research in this area indicates that multisensory effects (e.g., wind, aroma) have enabled a greater immersion of the user, process that is also known as Quality of Experience (QoE). Improving the QoE of individuals with visual impairments allows for increasing the perception of the narrated story, understanding, and immersion in the imaginary. In this scenario, this work presents the model called multisensorial audiobooks, proposes the development of version 3.0 of the application entitled MulseBook Audio, and presents the results of experiments with volunteers with visual impairments. The experiments were carried out to validate the model, in addition to evaluating the usability of the new application and the QoE of these users when using multisensorial audiobooks. In total, eleven volunteers participated in the experiment, which consisted of reading a multisensorial audiobook and then were invited to answer the QoE Assessment questionnaire, based on EGameFlow, and the standardized System Usability Scale (SUS) questionnaire in order to evaluate the usability of MulseBook Audio 3.0 and how much the multisensory effects influence the reading experience. The results achieved an average QoE score of 4.6 out of 5 points and a usability score of 96.6 out of 100. It is worth mentioning that the Research Ethics Committee approved this study under protocols 53886421.0.0000.5626 and 46544321.5.0000.5289.
