Exploring the Impacts of Background Noise on Auditory Stimuli of Audio-Visual eHMIs for Hearing, Deaf, and Hard-of-Hearing PeopleExternal Human-Machine Interfaces (eHMIs) have been proposed to enhance communication between automated vehicles (AVs) and pedestrians, with growing interest in multi-modal designs such as audio-visual eHMIs. Just as poor lighting can impair visual cues, a loud background noise may mask the auditory stimuli. However, its effects within these systems have not been examined, and little is known about how pedestrians --- particularly Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing (DHH) people --- perceive different types of auditory stimuli. We conducted a virtual reality study (Hearing N=25, DHH N=11) to examine the effects of background noise (quiet and loud) on auditory stimuli (baseline, bell, speech) within an audio-visual eHMI. Results revealed that: (1) Crossing experiences of DHH pedestrians significantly differ from Hearing pedestrians. (2) Loud background noise adversely affects pedestrians' crossing experiences. (3) Providing an additional auditory eHMI (bell/speech) improves crossing experiences. We outlined four practical implications for future eHMI design and research.2026WXWenge Xu et al.Birmingham City UniversityExternal HMI (eHMI) — Communication with Pedestrians & CyclistsAudio Accessibility (Captions, Sign Language, Vibration)CHI
ASL Educators’ Perspectives on AI for Enhancing Student Learning in American Sign Language EducationInterest in learning American Sign Language (ASL) is growing across higher education institutions in North America, as reflected in rising enrollments. Yet this growth is constrained by limited program availability and few opportunities to practice outside the classroom. AI-based technologies show promise for supporting ASL learning, but educators – who bring essential pedagogical, linguistic, and cultural expertise – have been largely absent from conversations on the design of these tools, with prior work focusing primarily on learners. To address this, we conducted formative interviews with eleven Deaf and one hearing ASL instructor, followed by two focus groups with six Deaf educators, to examine how AI tools could support ASL education. Findings revealed priorities for technology design and considerations for integration into existing pedagogical practices, with attention to curricular, linguistic, and access factors. We offer insights for designing and researching technologies aimed at (1) providing adaptive, structured feedback on signing performance and (2) supporting immersive conversational practice with virtual signing partners.2026SHSaad Hassan et al.Tulane UniversityGenerative AI (Text, Image, Music, Video)Intelligent Tutoring Systems & Learning AnalyticsSpecial Education TechnologyCHI
Fuzzy Feelings: Arousal’s Interpretive Noise and the Case for Acoustic-Based HapticsCaptions rarely convey emotional nuances in speech, leaving Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing (DHH) viewers without access to tonal and affective information. We present a two-part mixed-methods study on how haptic feedback can communicate vocal emotion without adding visual load. In Part 1, we replicated an arousal-driven captioning approach using speech-emotion-recognition to modulate typographic weight and vibration intensity. Participants showed divergent mental models and often mapped “more vibration” to loudness rather than emotional arousal, underscoring the construct’s conceptual fuzziness. In Part 2, we evaluated five acoustic-to-haptic mappings that bypass affective inference and translate pitch, rhythm, and waveform cues into vibration patterns. No single pattern dominated, but participants associated options such as ‘pulse’ or ‘sawtooth’ with high-arousal emotions, and ‘pitch-normalized’ signals with calmer states. We derive design guidelines emphasizing contrastive, acoustically grounded mappings and user control for integrating emotional haptics into short-form, captioned media.2026CPCaluã de Lacerda Pataca et al.Birmingham City UniversityVibrotactile Feedback & Skin StimulationAudio Accessibility (Captions, Sign Language, Vibration)Affective Feedback & Emotion Regulation InterfacesCHI
Towards Inclusive External Human-Machine Interface: Exploring the Effects of Visual and Auditory eHMI for Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing PeopleExternal Human-Machine Interfaces (eHMIs) have been proposed to facilitate communication between Automated Vehicles (AVs) and pedestrians. However, no attention was given to Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing (DHH) people. We conducted a formative study through focus groups with 6 DHH people and 6 key stakeholders (including researchers, assistive technologists, and automotive interface designers) to compare proposed eHMIs and extract key design requirements. Subsequently, we investigated the effects of visual and auditory eHMI in a virtual reality user study with 32 participants (16 DHH). Results from our scenario suggesting that (1) DHH participants spent more time looking at the AV; (2) both visual and auditory eHMIs enhanced trust, usefulness, and perceived safety; and (3) only visual eHMIs reduced the time to step into the road, time looking at the AV, gaze time, and percentage looking at active visual eHMI components. Lastly, we provided five practical implications for making eHMI inclusive of DHH people.2026WXWenge Xu et al.Birmingham City UniversityExternal HMI (eHMI) — Communication with Pedestrians & CyclistsDeaf & Hard-of-Hearing Support (Captions, Sign Language, Vibration)Teleoperated DrivingCHI
Asleep at the Virtual Wheel: The Increasing Inaccessibility of Virtual Reality ApplicationsPrior research has highlighted numerous accessibility barriers within virtual reality software, with guidelines emerging to address the requirements of diverse audiences. However, an empirical understanding of industry practitioner implementation of accessible guidelines within mainstream commercial applications is currently lacking. This review addresses this gap by categorising all accessibility features presented at a software-level in 330 of the most used virtual reality applications released between 2016 to 2023 on the Steam, Meta, Oculus, Viveport, and SideQuest platforms. Results suggest a growing lack of interaction customisation, with the number of applications allowing for alternative inputs and physical posture flexibility decreasing. Meanwhile, display output settings, such as text font resizing and colourblind alterations, are almost completely absent. Our findings highlight the evolution in the implementation of accessible features in virtual reality software, contributing to a representative overview of practitioner decisions, and acting as a catalyst towards the establishment of industry-wide guidelines.2025CACraig Anderton et al.Birmingham City University, HCI Research Centre, College of ComputingUniversal & Inclusive DesignGame AccessibilityCHI
Toward Feminist Ways of Sensing the Menstruating BodyBodily fluids associated with the menstruating body are often disregarded in the design of menstrual-tracking technologies despite their potential to provide valuable knowledge about the menstrual cycle. We prototyped a finger-worn sensor that measures vaginal fluid conductivity, which fluctuates throughout the cycle, and brought it into conversation with people through two speculative workshops (18 people), four fabrication workshops (17 people), and a deployment study where participants brought the sensor into their daily lives (7 people). We unpack that taking a material and sensory approach to intimate tracking nurtures a feminist way of sensing while creating tensions around how we want to know our bodies—tensions around how, where, and when to touch the body, hygiene, data storage, interpretation practices, and labor. With epistemological commitments to feminist materialist and posthuman theory, we invite designers to embrace these tensions.2025NWNadia Campo Woytuk et al.KTH Royal Institute of TechnologyCognitive Impairment & Neurodiversity (Autism, ADHD, Dyslexia)Universal & Inclusive DesignReproductive & Women's HealthCHI
Hybridge: Bridging Spatiality for Inclusive and Equitable Hybrid MeetingsHybrid meetings limit inclusion for remote participants. The Hybridge experimental system provides different interfaces for remote and room endpoints, focusing on improving inclusion via shared spatiality and remote agency. In-room users see remotes on displays around a table, and remotes see video integrated into a digital twin. Remotes can choose where to appear and from where they view the room. We tested Hybridge in a within-subjects study of group survival tasks. An in-person condition was followed by a counterbalanced order of hybrid traditional videoconferencing ("Gallery") and Hybridge. We found that co-presence and agency differences between in-room and remotes were alleviated in Hybridge but remained in Gallery. Physical presence for remotes was higher in Hybridge than Gallery. Conversation flow was better in Hybridge than Gallery, but ease of awareness was not different. We argue that asymmetry should be embraced when designing hybrid meeting systems, with inclusivity achieved by tailoring features for the needs of different endpoints.2024PPPayod Panda et al.Session 2f: Asymmetry, Collaboration, and Inclusivity in Hybrid SettingCSCW
Voiceye: A Multimodal Inclusive Development EnvironmentPeople with physical impairments who are unable to use traditional input devices (i.e. mouse and keyboard) are often excluded from technical professions (e.g. web development). Alternative input methods such as eye gaze tracking and speech recognition have become more readily available in recent years with both being explored independently to support people with physical impairments in coding activities. This paper describes a novel multimodal application (“Voiceye”) that combines voice input, gaze interaction, and mechanical switches as an alternative approach for writing code. The system was evaluated with non-disabled participants who have coding experience (N=29) to assess the feasibility of the application in writing HTML and CSS code. Results found that Voiceye was perceived positively and enabled successful completion of coding tasks. A follow-up study with disabled participants (N=5) demonstrated that this method of multimodal interaction can support people with physical impairments in writing and editing code.2020BPBharat Paudyal et al.Hand Gesture RecognitionEye Tracking & Gaze InteractionBrain-Computer Interface (BCI) & NeurofeedbackDIS
Multimodal Gaze Interaction for Creative DesignWe present a new application ("Sakura") that enables people with physical impairments to produce creative visual design work using a multimodal gaze approach. The system integrates multiple features tailored for gaze interaction including the selection of design artefacts via a novel grid approach, control methods for manipulating canvas objects, creative typography, a new color selection approach, and a customizable guide technique facilitating the alignment of design elements. A user evaluation (N=24) found that non-disabled users were able to utilize the application to complete common design activities and that they rated the system positively in terms of usability. A follow-up study with physically impaired participants (N=6) demonstrated they were able to control the system when working towards a website design, rating the application as having a good level of usability. Our research highlights new directions in making creative activities more accessible for people with physical impairments.2020CCChris Creed et al.Birmingham City UniversityEye Tracking & Gaze InteractionGraphic Design & Typography ToolsCHI
Too Hot to Handle: An Evaluation of the Effect of Thermal Visual Representation on User Grasping Interaction in Virtual RealityInfluence of interaction fidelity and rendering quality on perceived user experience have been largely explored in Virtual Reality (VR). However, differences in interaction choices triggered by these rendering cues have not yet been explored. We present a study analysing the effect of thermal visual cues and contextual information on 50 participants' approach to grasp and move a virtual mug. This study comprises 3 different temperature cues (baseline empty, hot and cold) and 4 contextual representations; all embedded in a VR scenario. We evaluate 2 different hand representations (abstract and human) to assess grasp metrics. Results show temperature cues influenced grasp location, with the mug handle being predominantly grasped with a smaller grasp aperture for the hot condition, while the body and top were preferred for baseline and cold conditions.2020ABAndreea Dalia Blaga et al.Birmingham City UniversityEye Tracking & Gaze InteractionImmersion & Presence ResearchCHI