On-Body Interaction for Optimized Accessibility

This thesis addresses the suitability of body interaction techniques, when used by persons with different levels of visual impairment, to improve the accessibility of mobile devices. The research will focus on: understanding how on-body interaction can surpass the current accessibility levels of mobile devices, characterizing the different complexities of skin mapping for different levels of visual impairment, perceiving for what types of input tasks it is best suited, and studying how it can complement other input modalities. Results will include an on-body interaction model, and several prototypes and studies characterizing body interaction.