A qualitative study on the needs of visually impaired users in Brazil for smart home interactive technologies

• Otávio de Faria Oliveira Federal University of Lavras
• Mateus Gonçalves Carvalho Federal University of Lavras
• Raphael Winckler de Bettio Federal University of Lavras
• André Pimenta Freire Federal University of Lavras

DOI: https://doi.org/10.5753/ihc_estendido.2022.225543

Abstract

Assistive technologies have allowed people with disabilities to perform daily tasks with greater independence and autonomy, especially for visually impaired people. Using smart home solutions allows these users to control their homes with less cognitive and physical demand. However, making such applications accessible to meet the needs of visually impaired users, especially in developing countries, remains a challenge. This paper investigates the perceptions of these users about home automation technologies through semi-structured interviews. A total of 20 visually impaired people participated in the interviews. A thematic analysis revealed results concerning the following themes: (1) how people go about their lives at home and around, how people interact with current appliances, objects and environments, (3) how people perceive their attitude to technologies, (4) the Brazilian context of smart homes, (5) what people think smart homes should do and (6) envisaging ways of interacting with smart home systems. The results obtained provide significant insight into the needs of visually-impaired people in Brazil, with analysis of issues that are common with previous studies in more developed countries and specific issues that have important particularities and implications in Brazil and other developing countries.

Keywords: Accessibility, Visual disabilities, smart homes

References

Virginia Braun and Victoria Clarke. 2006. Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology 3, 2 (2006), 77–101. https://doi.org/10.1191/1478088706qp063oa

Otávio de Faria Oliveira, Mateus Carvalho Gonçalves, Raphael Winckler de Bettio, and André Pimenta Freire. 2022. A qualitative study on the needs of visually impaired users in Brazil for smart home interactive technologies. Behaviour & Information Technology (2022), 1–29.