@article{GoetzelmannKargMueller2025, author = {G{\"o}tzelmann, Timo and Karg, Pascal and M{\"u}ller, Mareike}, title = {Augminded: Ambient Mirror Display Notifications}, series = {Multimodal Technologies and Interaction}, volume = {9}, journal = {Multimodal Technologies and Interaction}, number = {9}, publisher = {MDPI}, address = {Basel, Switzerland}, issn = {2414-4088}, doi = {10.3390/mti9090093}, pages = {22}, year = {2025}, abstract = {This paper presents a new approach for providing contextual information in real-world environments. Our approach is consciously designed to be low-threshold; by using mirrors as augmented reality surfaces, no devices such as AR glasses or smartphones have to be worn or held by the user. It enables technical and non-technical objects in the environment to be visually highlighted and thus subtly draw the attention of people passing by. The presented technology enables the provision of information that can be viewed in more detail by the user if required by slowing down their movement. Users can decide whether this is relevant to them or not. A prototype system was implemented and evaluated through a user study. The results show a high level of acceptance and intuitive usability of the system, with participants being able to reliably perceive and process the information displayed. The technology thus offers promising potential for the unobtrusive and context-sensitive provision of information in various application areas. The paper discusses limitations of the system and outlines future research directions to further optimize the technology and extend its applicability.}, language = {en} } @inproceedings{GoetzelmannKargMueller2025, author = {G{\"o}tzelmann, Timo and Karg, Pascal and M{\"u}ller, Mareike}, title = {A Novel Concept using Mirror Displays for Ambient User Notifications}, publisher = {ACM}, doi = {10.1145/3733155.3733206}, pages = {315-323}, year = {2025}, abstract = {This paper presents a novel approach to notify users about tasks in their immediate environment. Our approach is consciously designed to be low-threshold, by using augmented mirror displays, no devices such as AR glasses or smartphones have to be worn or hold by the user. The mirror display allows people passing by to get awareness of which technical and non-technical objects that need attention in an unobtrusive way. These are conveyed visually in a uniform manner and can be easily observed by passing users. If the user decides to interact by slowing down or pausing, the display adapts to more detailed information about the augmented objects. Users can decide whether this is relevant to them or not. We present a novel interaction concept, several use cases, an implementation of our approach in a laboratory scenario and conduct a user study to evaluate the feasibility and effectiveness of our interaction concept. The results reveal a good performance of our system and based on this, open up new questions perspectives for future enhancements.}, language = {en} } @inproceedings{GoetzelmannKreimeier2020, author = {G{\"o}tzelmann, Timo and Kreimeier, Julian}, title = {Participation of elderly people in smart city planning by means of virtual reality}, series = {Proceedings of the 13th ACM International Conference on PErvasive Technologies Related to Assistive Environments}, booktitle = {Proceedings of the 13th ACM International Conference on PErvasive Technologies Related to Assistive Environments}, publisher = {ACM}, address = {New York, NY, USA}, doi = {10.1145/3389189.3397649}, pages = {1 -- 2}, year = {2020}, abstract = {Urbanisation is progressing, the population in many countries has a growing proportion of old people. This must be taken into account when transforming urban environments into Smart Cities. On the one hand, general accessibility rules must be taken into account in the planning of buildings and urban environments. However, an essential requirement for transformation is the participation of citizens, i.e., concrete suggestions for improvement from citizen should be taken into account. Elderly people are a valuable source of information for improvements. Instead of simply involving them in the modification of existing facilities, our approach suggests that they should be included in the planning process. However, abstract plans and questionnaires allow only limited insights for ordinary citizen. Therefore, our approach aims at providing a suitable interface to interactively walk through and annotate virtual reality plans for buildings and city districts. We present a working prototype for elderly people based on 3D consumer hardware appropriate form of locomotion with which they can explore and annotate urban planning according to their individual needs.}, language = {en} } @inproceedings{KreimeierKappeGoetzelmann2020, author = {Kreimeier, Julian and Kappe, Maximilian and G{\"o}tzelmann, Timo}, title = {BlindScanLine}, series = {Proceedings of the 13th ACM International Conference on PErvasive Technologies Related to Assistive Environments}, booktitle = {Proceedings of the 13th ACM International Conference on PErvasive Technologies Related to Assistive Environments}, publisher = {ACM}, address = {New York, NY, USA}, doi = {10.1145/3389189.3393742}, pages = {1 -- 4}, year = {2020}, abstract = {Sonification is a promising way for blind and visually impaired people to capture and process information purely auditory, e.g., by mapping distance metrics on sound characteristics. To optimally use the users' sensory bandwidth and cognitive load a sequential scanning at multiple azimuth angles instead of only one measuring point straight ahead could be a suitable option. Thus, we present a preliminary cross-platform implementation and evaluation of such a sequential 'line-scanning sonification' using off-the-shelf components while comparing frequency (FM) and amplitude modulation (AM). In our user study with blindfolded and visually impaired participants, users gained a more accurate mental model in significantly shorter time by means of FM compared to AM and the HoloLens' usability was rated better than our LIDAR prototype's. These initial findings show possibilities for further improvement, so that similar approaches could be used more and better in blind and visually impaired peoples' everyday life.}, language = {en} } @inproceedings{KreimeierKargGoetzelmann2020, author = {Kreimeier, Julian and Karg, Pascal and G{\"o}tzelmann, Timo}, title = {BlindWalkVR}, series = {Proceedings of the 13th ACM International Conference on PErvasive Technologies Related to Assistive Environments}, booktitle = {Proceedings of the 13th ACM International Conference on PErvasive Technologies Related to Assistive Environments}, publisher = {ACM}, address = {New York, NY, USA}, doi = {10.1145/3389189.3389193}, pages = {1 -- 8}, year = {2020}, abstract = {Virtual Reality (VR) promises expanded access to spatial information, especially for blind and visually impaired people. Through haptic and acoustic feedback, real world's limitations like the risk of injury or the necessity of a sighted safety assistant can be circumvented. However, the best possible profit of this technology requires interactive locomotion in large virtual environments to overcome real world space limitations. Thus, we present formative insights of blind people's egocentric VR locomotion by comparing four different implementations (i.e., two VR treadmills, trackers on the ankles or joystick based locomotion) in a qualitative and quantitative user study with seven blind and visually impaired participants. Our results reveal novel insights on characteristics of each implementation in terms of usability and practicability and also provide recommendations for further work in this field with the target user group in sight.}, language = {en} } @inproceedings{GoetzelmannKreimeier2020, author = {G{\"o}tzelmann, Timo and Kreimeier, Julian}, title = {Towards the inclusion of wheelchair users in smart city planning through virtual reality simulation}, series = {Proceedings of the 13th ACM International Conference on PErvasive Technologies Related to Assistive Environments}, booktitle = {Proceedings of the 13th ACM International Conference on PErvasive Technologies Related to Assistive Environments}, publisher = {ACM}, address = {New York, NY, USA}, doi = {10.1145/3389189.3398008}, pages = {1 -- 7}, year = {2020}, abstract = {The planning of Smart Cities is a complex task. In particular, accessibility rules based on legal regulations but also on empirical values must be observed. However, it is difficult to determine in advance the exact needs of people with disabilities for concrete planning. Previous approaches mainly aimed at existing urban environments. Ideally, citizens should be directly involved in the planning process of buildings and urban environments. For existing urban environments, crowdsourcing approaches exist to obtain suggestions for improvement from citizens. We present a novel approach for the direct integration of wheelchair users in the urban environments to be planned (participatory urban development) in virtual reality. We present an easy-to-reproduce simulator that allows wheelchair users to directly explore the planned buildings and urban environments in a virtual, spatial environment. This means that these 3D models can be commented already in the planning phase and provide valuable information about accessibility.}, language = {en} } @incollection{OumardKreimeierGoetzelmann2022, author = {Oumard, Christina and Kreimeier, Julian and G{\"o}tzelmann, Timo}, title = {Pardon? An Overview of the Current State and Requirements of Voice User Interfaces for Blind and Visually Impaired Users}, series = {Lecture Notes in Computer Science}, booktitle = {Lecture Notes in Computer Science}, publisher = {Springer International Publishing}, address = {Cham}, isbn = {9783031086472}, issn = {0302-9743}, doi = {10.1007/978-3-031-08648-9_45}, pages = {388 -- 398}, year = {2022}, abstract = {People with special needs like blind and visually impaired (BVI) people can particularly benefit from using voice assistants providing spoken information input and output in everyday life. However, it is crucial to understand their needs and include them in developing accessible and useful assistance systems. By conducting an online survey with 146 BVI people, this paper revealed that common voice assistants like Apple's Siri or Amazon's Alexa are used by a majority of BVI people and are also considered helpful. In particular, features in audio entertainment, internet access, and everyday life practical things like weather queries, time-related information (e.g., setting an alarm clock), checking calendar entries, and taking notes are particularly often used and appreciated. The participants also indicated that the integration of smart home devices, the optimization of existing functionalities, and voice input are important. Still, also potentially negative aspects such as data privacy and data security are relevant. Therefore, it seems particularly interesting to implement offline data processing as far as possible. Our results contribute to this development by providing an overview of empirically collected requirements for functions and implementation-related aspects.}, language = {en} } @inproceedings{KargKreimeierGoetzelmann2021, author = {Karg, Pascal and Kreimeier, Julian and G{\"o}tzelmann, Timo}, title = {Build-and-Touch: A Low-Cost, DIY, Open-Source Approach Towards Touchable Virtual Reality}, series = {Proceedings of the 14th PErvasive Technologies Related to Assistive Environments Conference}, booktitle = {Proceedings of the 14th PErvasive Technologies Related to Assistive Environments Conference}, publisher = {ACM}, address = {New York, NY, USA}, doi = {10.1145/3453892.3462217}, pages = {258 -- 259}, year = {2021}, abstract = {Virtual Reality (VR) is attracting more and more attention from academic research and practical application with the current availability of low-cost and end-user friendly devices. In terms of haptic (rather than visual) interaction, however, this technology is still in its infancy and there are few devices that are inexpensive and technologically simple to operate, respectively to procure. In this context, we present a concept of how haptic interaction with VR data gloves can also succeed by means of a commercially available web cam, sophisticated tracking software, and homemade low-cost hardware. All hardware and software components are to be obtained inexpensively or are open-source in order to achieve the greatest possible dissemination potential. With this work, we intend to provide an important trigger for future improvements and dissemination in terms of both technology and areas of application.}, language = {en} } @inproceedings{FeitlKreimeierGoetzelmann2022, author = {Feitl, Selina and Kreimeier, Julian and G{\"o}tzelmann, Timo}, title = {Accessible Electrostatic Surface Haptics: Towards an Interactive Audiotactile Map Interface for People With Visual Impairments}, series = {Proceedings of the 15th International Conference on PErvasive Technologies Related to Assistive Environments}, booktitle = {Proceedings of the 15th International Conference on PErvasive Technologies Related to Assistive Environments}, publisher = {ACM}, address = {New York, NY, USA}, doi = {10.1145/3529190.3534781}, pages = {522 -- 531}, year = {2022}, abstract = {Tactile models, such as floor plans of a familiar or unfamiliar environment, can be helpful for people with visual impairments to grasp and interpret spatial information. Such plans are usually fabricated physically in a time-consuming process and are not interactive. This paper suggests presenting tactile floor plans using surface haptic feedback on an electrostatic display to overcome these limitations. Besides audiohaptically exploring tactile floor plans, our prototype also allows for voice interaction and demonstrates the control of smart home devices in this context. The evaluation was conducted in two stages with eight participants with visual impairments: First, it was investigated how individual rooms can be identified and assigned with electrostatic tactile feedback over a common dot matrix display. Second, the generation of a mental map when exploring an interactive detailed floor plan with several rooms was evaluated. Our results show that electrostatic haptic feedback enables people with visual impairments to recognize and understand graphic elements like rooms and a floor plan. However, this entails significantly more time for exploration and a higher cognitive workload when compared to a comparable but more expensive dot matrix display, though spatial and semantic smart home contextual information can be added through a voice interface, such as "What is the room's name I am touching?" or "Turn on the power socket in this room." Our preliminary but innovative approach reveals the initial potential of electrostatic feedback for accessibility and aims to help situate the opportunities and challenges in this context for wider dissemination.}, language = {en} } @inproceedings{LyKargKreimeieretal.2022, author = {Ly, Kim and Karg, Pascal and Kreimeier, Julian and G{\"o}tzelmann, Timo}, title = {Development and Evaluation of a Low-cost Wheelchair Simulator for the Haptic Rendering of Virtual Road Conditions}, series = {Proceedings of the 15th International Conference on PErvasive Technologies Related to Assistive Environments}, booktitle = {Proceedings of the 15th International Conference on PErvasive Technologies Related to Assistive Environments}, publisher = {ACM}, address = {New York, NY, USA}, doi = {10.1145/3529190.3529195}, pages = {32 -- 39}, year = {2022}, abstract = {Many streets and buildings are not accessible for wheelchair users, which impedes a major challenge for their mobility. Often, such challenges can be considered during the planning stage, which is why it is important to include this user group in the planning process. Ideally, these planning efforts should also be made visually and haptically navigable using Virtual Reality (VR) technology to allow for better imagination, accurate conclusions, and awareness of wheelchair users. This work optimizes previous approaches so that different roadway conditions can be made haptically perceptible. The proposed prototype provides a non-contact and adjustable brake for simulating inclined planes, which can be adjusted depending on personal and environmental parameters. In addition, it can simulate roads such as cobblestones using a tactile transducer. The individually optimized components were combined into a complete VR system and integrated into a virtual environment for evaluation. The qualitative and quantitative results showed that realistic simulation is possible, but further development steps towards holistic and dissemination-capable hardware and software are needed. To this end, our contribution aims to improve the long-term involvement of wheelchair users in planning processes and increase awareness of their mobility situation.}, language = {en} }