The second evaluation session was held at University of Sri Jayawardhanapura. The process was identical to the session one: similar time and venue. The system setup was quick, since we were familiar with the environment. Our concept was introduced to five students. Three being female and 2 being male. This time we met higher percentage of totally bind students. The process was balanced so there ware 5 students who experienced the linear model of our system and 5 with the 2 dimensional environment.
During the evaluation process, even without analyzing the data, one thing was sure.What we thought of about performance and the layout information was absolutely wrong. It was noticed that they performed quite well with the linear system than the dimensional system when considering time, error rates and help required. This evaluation had many issues which we are unable to measure.
During the evaluation process, even without analyzing the data, one thing was sure.What we thought of about performance and the layout information was absolutely wrong. It was noticed that they performed quite well with the linear system than the dimensional system when considering time, error rates and help required. This evaluation had many issues which we are unable to measure.
- When measuring time, some people were very fast in typing (there was less typing, other than in registration page)
- Some students were very quick in understanding the new system (concept) while others were unable to grab the concept that quick. Specially the concept of moving in two directions using the arrow keys was unfamiliar to them.
These things are not measurable, but affects the final output significantly. 
Anyway at a glance I would say they did better with the liner system than ours in time, error rates and time of learning. But they said it would have been easier to learn our system faster if they were introduced to the concept earlier (they are already familiar with the linear model, thanks to JAWS).
Most people got the idea of location and the layout of the information, but they had an issue with mapping the arrow keys with the layout they had in there mind. My guess would be that they were unfamiliar with the whole idea of moving in two directions using a computer. At times they pointed the right direction telling that the object was there and the location they currently reside, but were unable to navigate towards it in the first try. Totally blind, male students showed best results in identifying the direction and moving towards it.
Another observation was that, they correctly identified the movement of sound from left to right. It was even viable from their body language that they perceived the movement. But most found it difficult to identify the sound coming from up and bellow.
The reason I would say is that they never expected to hear sound from all four directions. They know of stereo systems, but very rerely experience 4 speakers, specially placed top and bottom. Other reason I would suggest is that human ears are placed in left and right sides of the head. So it would be not an issue to identify left and right channels, but the top and bottom would at times give the same idea to the ears. But most of the students born blind, coped extraordinarily well in this issue. When they got the idea of two directions the perception improved.
After completing the evaluation with 10 students we spoke with the president of the blind society and thanked him. They were very helpful and without their organizing skills.(They had allocated time slots to participate in the experiment, without our intervention). Overall I think we made some really good findings which were not investigated before. The results of the evaluation must be compiled and conclusions made.
Anyway at a glance I would say they did better with the liner system than ours in time, error rates and time of learning. But they said it would have been easier to learn our system faster if they were introduced to the concept earlier (they are already familiar with the linear model, thanks to JAWS).Most people got the idea of location and the layout of the information, but they had an issue with mapping the arrow keys with the layout they had in there mind. My guess would be that they were unfamiliar with the whole idea of moving in two directions using a computer. At times they pointed the right direction telling that the object was there and the location they currently reside, but were unable to navigate towards it in the first try. Totally blind, male students showed best results in identifying the direction and moving towards it.
Another observation was that, they correctly identified the movement of sound from left to right. It was even viable from their body language that they perceived the movement. But most found it difficult to identify the sound coming from up and bellow.
The reason I would say is that they never expected to hear sound from all four directions. They know of stereo systems, but very rerely experience 4 speakers, specially placed top and bottom. Other reason I would suggest is that human ears are placed in left and right sides of the head. So it would be not an issue to identify left and right channels, but the top and bottom would at times give the same idea to the ears. But most of the students born blind, coped extraordinarily well in this issue. When they got the idea of two directions the perception improved.After completing the evaluation with 10 students we spoke with the president of the blind society and thanked him. They were very helpful and without their organizing skills.(They had allocated time slots to participate in the experiment, without our intervention). Overall I think we made some really good findings which were not investigated before. The results of the evaluation must be compiled and conclusions made.
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