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Making interaction with virtual reality accessible: rendering and guiding methods for subtitles

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 November 2019

Belén Agulló Open the ORCID record for Belén Agulló [Opens in a new window] ,
Mario Montagud  and
Isaac Fraile
Belén Agulló*
Affiliation:
Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Spain
Mario Montagud
Affiliation:
University of Valencia, Spain i2Cat Foundation, Spain
Isaac Fraile
Affiliation:
i2Cat Foundation, Spain
*
Author for correspondence: Belén Agulló, E-mail: belen.agullo.garcia@gmail.com
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Abstract

Accessibility in immersive media is a relevant research topic, still in its infancy. This article explores the appropriateness of two rendering modes (fixed-positioned and always-visible) and two guiding methods (arrows and auto-positioning) for subtitles in 360° video. All considered conditions have been implemented and integrated in an end-to-end platform (from production to consumption) for their validation and evaluation. A pilot study with end users has been conducted with the goals of determining the preferred options by users, the options that result in a higher presence, and of gathering extra valuable feedback from the end users. The obtained results reflect that, for the considered 360° content types, always-visible subtitles were more preferred by end users and received better results in the presence questionnaire than the fixed-positioned subtitles. Regarding guiding methods, participants preferred arrows over auto-positioning because arrows were considered more intuitive and easier to follow and reported better results in the presence questionnaire.

Keywords

360° Videosaccessibilityhuman–computer interactionsubtitlesvirtual reality
Type
Research Article
Information
AI EDAM , Volume 33 , Special Issue 4: Intelligent Interaction Design , November 2019 , pp. 416 - 428
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2019

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