A Study on Tactile Symbols as an Aid to the Visually Impaired for Product Operation

　　　　　觸覺對視障者操作產品及了解環境有很大的的幫助。本研究以視障者常用的錄放 音機為例，探討以觸覺符號輔助辨認產品操作功能的問題。首先，調查市面上手提收錄音機 使用觸覺符號的情形。接著，以實驗探討觸覺表現型式對符號辨認的影響，並檢定現有觸覺 符號的尺寸及觸覺表現型式是否真正達到輔助辨認操作功能的目的。最後，依實驗的發現， 對所有產品樣本中表現最佳的機型進行符號型式的改良，共驗證改良設計的符號確實較原有 的符號更易於觸覺操作時的辨認。本研究的主要結論為：(1) 現有錄放音操作觸覺符號以面 凹型符號為多，但其符號的平均尺寸在各式表現型式中卻是最小；(2) 面凸型的觸覺符號是 各式觸覺表現型式中，最易辨認的型式；(3) 現有符號在表現型式及尺寸上都可以再改良； 4) 改良後的面凸型觸覺符號可以降低操作的時間及錯誤率。
　　　　　Tactile information is invaluable to the visually impaired in product operation. This study investigates the use of tactile symbols to help the visually impaired to discriminate between the different operation functions of radio cassette recorders. The research starts with a market survey of radio cassette recorders with implemented tactile symbols on the controls. Features of the tactile symbols used in these recorders are then measured and analyzed. Next, an experiment is conducted with visually impaired subjects as well as normal subjects with their vision barricaded to test the relative ease of recognition of 4 types of tactile patterns. The result of the experiment is ten used to evaluate the appropriateness of the existing tactile patterns used on radio cassette recorders, and also used to improve the tactile symbols which are evaluated to be most favorable. A follow-up evaluation reveals that the redesign reduced significantly the operation time and errors. The conclusions of this research include: 1) The most widely used tactile pattern in the controls of radio cassette recorders is of the solid-furrow type, with the samllest average size as compared to all other patterns of tactile symbols. 2) The tactile pattern that is easiest to discriminate as observed in the tactile symbol discrimination experiment is of the solid-track type. 3) Redesign of the existing tactile controls in terms of tactile patterns and symbol sizes is possible to improve their discriminabilities. 4) The redesigned symbols can significantly reduce the time and error in product operation.