Adjectives improve color perception in visually impaired people through multisensory stimulation

Visually impaired individuals, particularly those who are totally blind, cannot rely on vision to perceive colors and instead depend on other sensory modalities. Color adjectives may serve as semantic representations that support their understanding of the surrounding world. This study investigates how visually impaired individuals construct color experiences and meanings through multisensory stimulation. In this study, semi-structured interviews were conducted with six participants to elicit descriptions of nine colors (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, white, gray, and black) based on tactile, olfactory, auditory, and emotional cues. A follow-up questionnaire study involving fifteen participants was then conducted to examine the recognition and applicability of the identified color adjectives. The results indicate that participants showed preferences for black, green, yellow, and red. Multisensory stimulation effectively elicited diverse color-related adjectives, which could be categorized into five types: emotional, taste, appearance, time, and abstract. Auditory stimuli were particularly effective in eliciting emotional adjectives. Overall, the findings suggest that visually impaired individuals' understanding of color can be constructed through cross-sensory associations, particularly via tactile and auditory experiences.