Cooking is a vital yet challenging activity for people with visual impairments (PVI). It involves tasks that can be dangerous or difficult without vision, such as handling a knife or adding a suitable amount of salt. A better understanding of these challenges can inform the design of technologies that mitigate safety hazards and improve the quality of the lives of PVI. Furthermore, there is a need to understand the effects of different visual abilities, including low vision and blindness, and the role of rehabilitation training where PVI learn cooking skills and assistive technologies. In this paper, we aim to comprehensively characterize PVI's challenges, strategies, and needs in the kitchen from the perspectives of both PVI and rehabilitation professionals. Through a contextual inquiry study, we observed 10 PVI, including six low vision and four blind participants, when they cooked dishes of their choices in their own kitchens. We then interviewed six rehabilitation professionals to explore their training strategies and technology recommendations. Our findings revealed the differences between low vision and blind people during cooking as well as the gaps between training and reality. We suggest improvements for rehabilitation training and distill design considerations for future assistive technology in the kitchen.

翻译：烹饪对于视障人士（PVI）而言是一项重要却充满挑战的活动。这类活动涉及在无视觉辅助条件下可能产生危险或困难的操作，例如刀具使用或精确控盐。深入理解这些挑战可为设计降低安全风险、改善PVI生活质量的技术提供依据。此外，还需明确不同视觉能力（包括低视力与全盲）的影响差异，以及PVI学习烹饪技能与辅助技术时康复训练的作用。本文旨在从PVI与康复专业人员双重视角，系统分析PVI在厨房场景中的困难、应对策略及需求。通过情境调查法，我们观察了10名PVI（含6名低视力者与4名全盲者）在自家厨房烹饪自选菜肴的全过程，随后访谈了6名康复专业人员以探究其训练策略与技术建议。研究发现揭示了低视力者与全盲者在烹饪过程中的行为差异，以及康复训练与实际情境之间的断层。基于此，我们提出康复训练改进方案，并提炼出面向未来厨房辅助技术的设计考量。