A study on the blind's sensory ability

The purpose of this study was to identify major sensory differences between the visually disabled and sighted persons. The result of the study was expected to provide valuable human-factor inputs for designers in relevant fields, and thereby improve convenience and safety in life for those suffering from blindness or visual impairment.The research was carried out in two stages: first, the sensory ability experiment, which involved testing of hearing, touch, and kinesthesia sensations of both fully blind and normal-sighted students of junior high schools; and second, interviews with the blind, of which the results could be used to verify and supplement the findings of the first-stage experiment.Based on the experiments and interviews this study has derived the following conclusions: 1. The average pure-tone hearing threshold of blind subjects was higher than that of sighted ones, and the difference reached statistical significance at a p-value<0.05. 2. The two-point tactile threshold for the fingertips of left and right index fingers of the blind subjects was lower than their sighted counterparts. Again, the difference reached a statistical significance of a p-value<0.05. 3. The visually impaired subjects spent significantly less time on distinguishing rough surface texture from smooth ones than the sighted group with a p-value<0.05.Relevance to industryThe research result is expected to help future designers incorporate human factors in product design, particularly with respect to visually disabled users. In a commercial environment driven by profits, the development of new products rarely takes the needs of the disadvantaged user segment into account. It is therefore hoped that this study could inspire relevant industries to care more about consumers from minority groups and in the meantime promote studies on relevant human-factor issues.