Issues of Using Tactile Mice by Individuals Who Are Blind and Visually Impaired

Tactile mice, computer mice modified to have tactile pin displays on their upper surface, have been developed to enable access to 2-D graphical information for individuals who are blind or visually impaired; however, they have yet to really be adopted by the community. We suggest that this is due to the significant lack of accuracy in the haptic position information, which is critical for individuals to haptically piece together a 2-D graphic. We have identified two main design issues that affect this accuracy. Making simple modifications to correct these problems, we show a significant improvement in performance.