Non-Visual Cooking: Exploring Practices and Challenges of Meal Preparation by People with Visual Impairments

TL;DR

This study analyzes the cooking practices and challenges faced by visually impaired individuals through video content and interviews, aiming to inform assistive technology development for independent cooking.

Contribution

It offers a detailed analysis of non-visual cooking practices and identifies specific challenges, providing a foundation for designing supportive technologies.

Findings

Identified key challenges in tracking cooking tasks and verifying food readiness.

Documented diverse non-visual techniques used by visually impaired cooks.

Highlighted opportunities for assistive tech like zero-touch interactions.

Abstract

The reliance on vision for tasks related to cooking and eating healthy can present barriers to cooking for oneself and achieving proper nutrition. There has been little research exploring cooking practices and challenges faced by people with visual impairments. We present a content analysis of 122 YouTube videos to highlight the cooking practices of visually impaired people, and we describe detailed practices for 12 different cooking activities (e.g., cutting and chopping, measuring, testing food for doneness). Based on the cooking practices, we also conducted semi-structured interviews with 12 visually impaired people who have cooking experience and show existing challenges, concerns, and risks in cooking (e.g., tracking the status of tasks in progress, verifying whether things are peeled or cleaned thoroughly). We further discuss opportunities to support the current practices and improve the independence of people with visual impairments in cooking (e.g., zero-touch interactions for cooking). Overall, our findings provide guidance for future research exploring various assistive technologies to help people cook without relying on vision.