Presentation
DH18 - User-Centered Feedback During Outdoor Navigation for Persons With Vision Impairment
SessionPoster Session 2
DescriptionBackground:
Globally, 1.1 billion people were living with vision loss in 2020, with 43million of them blind and over 250 million having moderate to severe vision impairment (Bourne et al., 2020). Individuals with visual impairments, particularly older adults, face significant challenges in their daily lives as it affects their ability to perceive and interpret visual information (Jones et al., 2009; Ribeiro et al., 2015). This study examined some of the navigating challenges that people with vision impairments experience when navigating outdoors – discerning the nature of the obstacles ahead. We approached the challenges by designing a robotic wayfinding system prototype supporting outdoor navigation. The emphasis in the design was twofold: technology familiarity – we designed the system to resemble a walking stick, which many users in that population were familiar with; secondly, we included a multimodal perception feedback component to ensure that the user received an alternative form of feedback to reinforce or provide additional information to what the force feedback received through the tip of the white cane. This is to provide redundant feedback options to the users facilitating safety and independence for the user. We understand that users may also have different preferences regarding feedback preferences, so this is designed to meet the range of needs that different individuals may have.
Method:
The wayfinding system is designed as a mobile robotic system resembling a walking stick to make it familiar for those with visual impairment. Attached to the system are an obstacle sensor, a ditch sensor, and a water sensor. The various sensors help visually impaired persons navigate their environments conveniently and safely. The system also has a headset to provide audio feedback to the user. The headset allows the user get audio feedback when using the walking stick. The audio feedback ranged from “obstacle detected, ditch detected, water detected”.
Participants and Recruitment: The system was tested in a pilot study with 5 participants aged 19 to 30, to learn from the pilot before implementing it with older adults with visual impairments. These participants were made to use a blindfold as an empathetic design strategy to understand the challenges that target users may encounter.
Study Design| The study used a mixed methods approach, integrating qualitative and quantitative data collection techniques to assess usability in efficiency, effectiveness, and satisfaction obtained from the wayfinding support system for people with vision impairment. The experimental setup involved a route filled with obstacles to determine the effectiveness of the wayfinding support system.
Procedure| We prepared samples of obstacles, a water puddle, and a ditch in the path for testing. These were designed so that they would not hurt the participants if they collided with or walked into them. To avoid accidents, participants were allowed to see their route before being blindfolded. Each participant completed their trials separately and was guided during each trial. The participants were asked to say out loud the audio feedback from the wayfinding support system. Each trial was video-recorded for qualitative analysis.
Results:
There were two trials per participant. Each participant reached the destination in each trial run, and all 5 participants could complete the route in each trial. The system detected the obstacles set in the route and alerted participants. The system guided the participants in completing the route in an average of 7 minutes (SD=2.7 minutes), which was a reasonable time for that route. The participants reported being satisfied with the system, sharing comments like, “The support system is easy to use and not physically demanding” and “it was so helpful”.
Discussion:
Key findings |
This study demonstrates and highlights the importance of an alternative feedback system for wayfinding support. Participants could use the robot support system to navigate their environment conveniently and comfortably without any mishaps using the audio feedback system. The audio feedback they received also made the navigation more comfortable. This supports the user's independence when there is no guide nearby to identify obstacles that are difficult to decipher using the white cane alone.
Design Implications |
Participants' insights revealed the need for design improvements to support the user's perception-related needs. This will include understanding the perceptual changes between users and ensuring the system provides adaptive feedback that matches these users' needs. We also intend to include customizable audio feedback features that cater to the unique needs of different individuals and enable them to personalize the language or modality of communication.
Limitations And Future Directions|
The system was not tested in environments with different noise levels, especially outdoors. Further work will incorporate the possibility of noise-cancelling earphones that help the user get clearer feedback. We are also considering the possibility of interactive systems that allow the user to ask for more information through a microphone on the system so the system can provide more details as needed by the user.
Globally, 1.1 billion people were living with vision loss in 2020, with 43million of them blind and over 250 million having moderate to severe vision impairment (Bourne et al., 2020). Individuals with visual impairments, particularly older adults, face significant challenges in their daily lives as it affects their ability to perceive and interpret visual information (Jones et al., 2009; Ribeiro et al., 2015). This study examined some of the navigating challenges that people with vision impairments experience when navigating outdoors – discerning the nature of the obstacles ahead. We approached the challenges by designing a robotic wayfinding system prototype supporting outdoor navigation. The emphasis in the design was twofold: technology familiarity – we designed the system to resemble a walking stick, which many users in that population were familiar with; secondly, we included a multimodal perception feedback component to ensure that the user received an alternative form of feedback to reinforce or provide additional information to what the force feedback received through the tip of the white cane. This is to provide redundant feedback options to the users facilitating safety and independence for the user. We understand that users may also have different preferences regarding feedback preferences, so this is designed to meet the range of needs that different individuals may have.
Method:
The wayfinding system is designed as a mobile robotic system resembling a walking stick to make it familiar for those with visual impairment. Attached to the system are an obstacle sensor, a ditch sensor, and a water sensor. The various sensors help visually impaired persons navigate their environments conveniently and safely. The system also has a headset to provide audio feedback to the user. The headset allows the user get audio feedback when using the walking stick. The audio feedback ranged from “obstacle detected, ditch detected, water detected”.
Participants and Recruitment: The system was tested in a pilot study with 5 participants aged 19 to 30, to learn from the pilot before implementing it with older adults with visual impairments. These participants were made to use a blindfold as an empathetic design strategy to understand the challenges that target users may encounter.
Study Design| The study used a mixed methods approach, integrating qualitative and quantitative data collection techniques to assess usability in efficiency, effectiveness, and satisfaction obtained from the wayfinding support system for people with vision impairment. The experimental setup involved a route filled with obstacles to determine the effectiveness of the wayfinding support system.
Procedure| We prepared samples of obstacles, a water puddle, and a ditch in the path for testing. These were designed so that they would not hurt the participants if they collided with or walked into them. To avoid accidents, participants were allowed to see their route before being blindfolded. Each participant completed their trials separately and was guided during each trial. The participants were asked to say out loud the audio feedback from the wayfinding support system. Each trial was video-recorded for qualitative analysis.
Results:
There were two trials per participant. Each participant reached the destination in each trial run, and all 5 participants could complete the route in each trial. The system detected the obstacles set in the route and alerted participants. The system guided the participants in completing the route in an average of 7 minutes (SD=2.7 minutes), which was a reasonable time for that route. The participants reported being satisfied with the system, sharing comments like, “The support system is easy to use and not physically demanding” and “it was so helpful”.
Discussion:
Key findings |
This study demonstrates and highlights the importance of an alternative feedback system for wayfinding support. Participants could use the robot support system to navigate their environment conveniently and comfortably without any mishaps using the audio feedback system. The audio feedback they received also made the navigation more comfortable. This supports the user's independence when there is no guide nearby to identify obstacles that are difficult to decipher using the white cane alone.
Design Implications |
Participants' insights revealed the need for design improvements to support the user's perception-related needs. This will include understanding the perceptual changes between users and ensuring the system provides adaptive feedback that matches these users' needs. We also intend to include customizable audio feedback features that cater to the unique needs of different individuals and enable them to personalize the language or modality of communication.
Limitations And Future Directions|
The system was not tested in environments with different noise levels, especially outdoors. Further work will incorporate the possibility of noise-cancelling earphones that help the user get clearer feedback. We are also considering the possibility of interactive systems that allow the user to ask for more information through a microphone on the system so the system can provide more details as needed by the user.
Event Type
Poster Presentation
TimeTuesday, April 14:45pm - 6:15pm EDT
LocationFrontenac Foyer