Food and (and often cooking) are a daily aspect of life. People who are blind face challenges to cook independently, as such, people with visual impairment may choose to eat at restaurants, purchase takeout or ready meals, and/or form habits that limit their recipe choice and shopping decisions. According to previous researchers this inability and/or aversion to cooking is linked to poor nutritional status. Some cooking tasks and challenges discovered include heat application based tasks, undercooking food, identifying items and measuring liquids. Some technology-based solutions that currently exist to aid in these problems include tactile barcode labels incorporated with audio messages , digital voice assistant and volunteer apps like BeMyEyes.
Our research objective was to build on previous work by further exploring cooking experiences of the visually impaired to identify user needs to ideate a technology-based solution that can help users who are blind cook independently.
"Individuals with visual impairment who were living alone and cooking for themselves consumed significantly less food sources of energy content, fats, vitamin C and vitamin E nutrients than those with VI who lived with family or received support to cook"
- A journal from British Journal of Nutrition, March 2020
We recruited three visually impaired participants from our Professor's network. All participants were totally blind. Two were blind since birth, and one was blind for the last 15 years. Participants were between the ages of 52 and 72.
We began our research with interviews and concluded interviews with an invitation to participate in an observational study. Interviews were conducted via Zoom. Each interview lasted approximately 30 minutes and users were asked questions regarding cooking challenges, tools and gadgets, improvement/customizations, and demographics.
We conducted observations with two of the participants from the interviews. The observations were conducted at participants homes and recorded with consent from participants.Observations included a 60-minute timeframe: 15 minutes for pre-observation, 30 minutes for a cooking session, and 15 minutes for post-observation. Prior to the observation participants shared their preferred recipe and researchers were responsible for providing ingredients. Throughout the cooking session, participants were encouraged to vocalize their thoughts and think aloud to understand their cooking process better. Observations concluded with participants sharing challenges, strategies, and suggestions for improvement.
Individually, we transcribed and coded each interview. We utilizedFigJam, a collaborative work tool, to add our observational notes. As a team, we analyzed the observation notes and explored associations with the interview data. Our collaborative discussion involved grouping the coded segments and observational notes into common themes. To facilitate this process, we employed FigJam to create an affinity diagram. Through our analysis we identified key themes, described in the next section.
Hypothesis: Participants heavily relied on tactile senses to complete most cooking tasks.
We categorized our findings into five themes : (1) participants had similar spatial safety strategies;
(2) participants emphasized kitchen organization as an important factor of the cooking experience ;
(3) participants used labels and dots markings to identify spices, seasonings and appliance controls;
(4) participants used technology and relied on other senses coupled with previous experiences to overcome challenges in cooking; and (5) participants suggested workshops and community support for developing a comfort level with cooking activities.
In the interviews, all three participants highlighted the importance of having safety measures in the kitchen when cooking. Anna and Betty mentioned ensuring “counters are clean” and removing any spatial obstacles when prepping. Anna also mentioned having a fire extinguisher nearby in case of emergencies. Susan told us that she instructs members of her household to clear her path while cooking: “I tell everyone to get out of my way while in the kitchen”. She also mentioned having scars from accidental burns
In our observations ,we saw precautionary measures that we were told about, e.g., clearing counters and centering pots and pans on stove burners before heating them up. Susan placed her palms over the electric burner to determine when the burner was hot enough. Betty had accidentally spilled sauce on the burner which caused it to burn momentarily.
Some underlying reasons for the measures expressed were to prevent burning hands and avoid knocking things over.
Maintaining organization and structure in the kitchen space played a pivotal role in the cooking experiences for the participants. All participants mentioned organizing spices and maintaining a structure for storing away appliances and other cooking materials in interviews. Betty emphasized, “But to me, it's important to have things organized and to put things away. Put the spices away, put the appliance, the cooking stuff, the pots and pans and baking materials and stuff, put all that away and not just put it anywhere, but have a designated place for it."
In the observation Susan demonstrated challenges finding the appropriate seasonings during the observation primarily due to items previously being moved by other household members. Both observation participants demonstrated storing ingredients and spices immediately after they were used.
Effective labeling and markings are integral in overcoming challenges with identifying ingredients and controlling appliances. Two participants had some form of braille labeling or dot markers strategically placed by sighted helpers on the interface of touchscreen appliances. Ana, who was the only participant that did not have her oven labeled, noted she prefers using the toaster oven because it has a knob.
The ingredients and seasonings for the observation were also labeled with braille. Even with dot markings, these. participants still expressed challenges with confidently adjusting and using those appliances. Betty restricts herself to using the right front burner when cooking because it is easier for her to identify its knob on any stove; conversely Susan only used the left burner of her stove. We also observed that some of the dots placed on the oven controls were slightly out of place.
Other braille labeling and markings participants made to cooking materials were measuring cups, serving spoons, and microwave controls.
During the interviews B said, “The cookingpray candifferently than the same type ofan that or greasing a baking pan.” Ana also touched this when identifying ingredients: “You can tell what they are by smell, you know, by the way, the jar feels or the container."
In the observation, Susan determined when various stages in the cooking process were complete by touch and smell. She relied on previous cooking experience for measuring amounts and portions for cooking with wine.While Betty also relied on auditory senses to determine whether the meat was ready by carefully listening to the sizzling sounds coming from the pan.
Participants mentioned using apps such as BeMyEyes, Seeing AI, barcode scanners and text-to-speech scanners during the cooking experience. All participants also mentioned seeking out recipes online and through apps.
All participants had help from sighted people in labeling and marking their appliances. Betty, “When I moved here, the mobility instructor that I had helped me learn to get familiar with the area and marked the appliances for me.” Susan also occasionally asks other household members for quick assistance with reading instructions or identifying ingredients when she is in a hurry.
Ana also mentioned asking those around her for help in identifying ingredients: “Otherwise sometimes you knows somebody else is around, I can ask them as a last resort.”
Two participants who have been visually impaired since birth expressed that they had participated in cooking workshops in the past. Susan, who has been visually impaired for the last 15 years stated that although she has not participated in workshops would likely recommend them to others who are less experienced.
Our study size was a sample of three women aged between 52-72. We used interviews and observational studies to conduct this study. Their varying cooking backgrounds were helpful, but we would like a more diverse demographic of women and men included in the research. The recipes chosen in our observation methods did not involve challenges from previous research such as measuring liquids.
Future endeavors we plan to conduct further interviews and observational studies with a more sexually and fiscally diverse set of participants.
