14 DAY TRIAL // According to the latest news on the Web, Google engineers are experimenting with new interfaces for the Android operating system, which could allow usage without the need of visual attention. This way, visually impaired people could have the opportunity to effectively use an Android-based mobile phone.
At the recently held Google I/O conference in San Francisco, a research scientist at the Mountain View company, T.V. Raman, showed to the audience a circular interface meant to provide audio and tactile feedback to users. The unveiled eyes-free interface for Android phones comes with a radial menu that contains letters and numbers.
“We are building a user interface that goes over and beyond the screen,” Raman said. Although most eyes-free interfaces are developed for blind users, the research scientist, who himself is blind, said that these interfaces could have much broader implications. “This is not just about the blind user,” he stated. “This is about how to use these devices if you're not in a position to look at the machine.”
The researcher demonstrated how the new interface could allow people to dial numbers or search through contacts on a handset. According to Raman, most graphical user interfaces pose a problem when it comes to their buttons, which are in a fixed position and are hard to use when one cannot feel them. The showcased interface appears as soon as the screen of the handset is touched, and is centered on the initial touch.
There are already handsets that come with vibrational feedback, yet the interfaces require visual attention. Raman said that Android could offer the possibility for a diversity of eyes-free interfaces to be developed, due to the fact that it supported vibrational and audio feedback. In addition, the scientist and his colleague Charles Chen showed at the conference how the eyes-free alternative could be added to a wide range of applications for the platform.