C. Stephanidis and M. Antona (Eds.): UAHCI/HCII 2013, Part II, LNCS 8010, pp. 285–292, 2013. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2013 An Evaluation of the iPod Touch as an Alternative Low-Vision Magnifier for People with Low Vision Seunghyun Tina Lee 1 and Jon A. Sanford 1,2 1 Center for Assistive Technology and Environmental Access, College of Architecture, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, USA 2 Rehab R&D Center of Excellence, Atlanta VAMC tinalee@gatech.edu, jon.sanford@coa.gatech.edu Abstract. This study evaluated the feasibility of using the iPod Touch as an al- ternative low-vision magnifier by comparing its usability issues, subjective rat- ings, and preferences with those of two existing low-vision magnifiers (Smart- View Pocket and Amigo). Thirty participants (30-91 years) performed magnifi- cation adjustment tasks and reading tasks using three devices and rated the devices based on ease of use, ease of understanding, and satisfaction. The re- sults show 60% of the participants preferred the pinch zoom gesture and 66% preferred the scrolling one-finger gesture on the iPod Touch. This high user preference data indicate participants’ acceptability of finger gestures, which suggests new opportunities for the adoption of new technology for low- vision video magnifiers. The gesture interfaces may be a promising method for magnification and navigation for low-vision users. Keywords: Low vision video magnifier, gesture. 1 Introduction In the United States, more than 25 million people have reported experiencing signifi- cant low vision [1], resulting in problems recognizing familiar faces, seeing potential hazards such as steps or walls [2], and reading medicine labels, books, and bills, all of which are extremely important for independent living and recreational entertain- ment [3,4]. To improve reading performance, these individuals use low-vision video magnifiers equipped with a video camera and a zoom lens, allowing a flexible range of magnification [3-5]. Despite the supportive functionality of video magnifiers, low- vision users face challenges when trying to use these devices [6]. To use them, individuals first need to set their desired magnification level and then navigate text by moving the magnifier from one word to the next and from the end of one line to the beginning of the next. Existing low-vision video magnifiers utilize similar types of indirect controls (i.e., require translating physical distance moved by the hand to virtual distance seen on the screen) for magnification. However, studies [7-10] have shown that because indirect inputs require translation between hand movements and visual feedback on a screen,