Touch-control Cooktops

While conventional hobs were controlled by touch buttons, modern hobs with touch interfaces provide no auditory or tactile feedback, making them difficult to use for visually impaired users.
This makes them difficult to use for visually impaired users. This project uses the Design Thinking process to design and evaluate solutions to make these touch-controlled hobs more accessible to visually impaired users.
The first step in this process was to analyse the target user and the problem they face. This allowed the problem to be precisely defined and the design requirements to be formulated. Creative methods such as mood boards and brainstorming were used to generate concept ideas, three of which were then prototyped:

• (A) a custom panel of cut-out buttons that is glued to the cooktop interface with adhesive, giving the user tactile feedback
• (A) a custom cut-out button panel that is adhered to the hob interface with adhesive, giving the user tactile feedback on which button is pressed
• (B) mechanical buttons, knobs or sliders that interface with the touch controls in the same way as a smartphone stylus
• (C) a panel of buttons connected to a microcontroller which then triggers the appropriate touch commands on the hob using electrical wires on the hob using electrical wires.
  When validated against the requirements, Concept C met more requirements than Concepts A and B, so that only Concept C was retained than Concepts A and B, so that only Concept C was further developed.