Demonstration of a universally accessible audio-haptic transit map built on a digital pen-based platform

In this demo, conference attendees will try out a new system for providing multi-sensory transit and way-finding information about New York City subways to riders who are blind, visually impaired, or otherwise print disabled. The system includes a booklet of raised-line and textured maps of train routes; users explore the maps through various combinations of vision and tactile sense, and then touch the tip of a special pen to locations on the map to hear station names and other information spoken aloud. Train lines are rendered as narrow channels that help to guide a user’s hand as he or she moves the pen along a route, and small depressions within these channels mark individual station stops. This novel combination of tactile graphics and a haptic audio probe may provide an intuitive and information-rich interface that could help disabled individuals travel around the city with greater selfconfidence, safety, and independence. Author