  Researchers have adopted remote methods, such as online surveys and video
conferencing, to overcome challenges in conducting in-person usability testing,
such as participation, user representation, and safety. However, remote user
evaluation on hardware testbeds is limited, especially for blind participants,
as such methods restrict access to observations of user interactions. We employ
smart glasses in usability testing with blind people and share our lessons from
a case study conducted in blind participants' homes (N=12), where the
experimenter can access participants' activities via dual video conferencing: a
third-person view via a laptop camera and a first-person view via smart glasses
worn by the participant. We show that smart glasses hold potential for
observing participants' interactions with smartphone testbeds remotely; on
average 58.7% of the interactions were fully captured via the first-person view
compared to 3.7% via the third-person. However, this gain is not uniform across
participants as it is susceptible to head movements orienting the ear towards a
sound source, which highlights the need for a more inclusive camera form
factor. We also share our lessons learned when it comes to dealing with lack of
screen reader support in smart glasses, a rapidly draining battery, and
Internet connectivity in remote studies with blind participants.

Human-Computer Interaction