Back of the Steering Wheel Interaction: The Car Braille Keyer

In this paper, we present a novel text input approach for car drivers: The Car Braille Keyer combines a keyer concept (defined as keyboard without an actual board) and the braille code (i.e. blind writing method) at the back of the steering wheel. This concept allows eyeless text input while driving and simultaneously leaving the hands on the steering wheel. We present a prototype of the Car Braille Keyer along with an expert evaluation and a user study. The prototype consists of two sets of three buttons each, both of which are fixed on the back side of the steering wheel (one on the left, the other on the right side). The six buttons are designed to match a braille character like they can be found in the braille language. This approach allows for entering a character or command with only a single input combination without the need to look at the keys. In our prototype we added visual output in the head up display (HUD) as well as auditive feedback to enhance the interaction. To evaluate the system, we performed a heuristic evaluation with five HCI experts. Based on their feedback, we iterated the design of the prototype and added a learning tool for interaction using the Car Braille Keyer. An initial user study with the iterated prototype and twelve participants showed a good overall usability (SUS score=73.75) as well as a good acceptance rate based on the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM).

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