Introduction:

For those with a visual impairment the ability to travel independently is the most difficult
aspects of their handicap. This is noted by Marston and Golledge in their 2003 paper, "Golledge (1993)
noted that the inability to travel independently and to interact with the wider world is one of the most
significant handicaps that persons with visual impairments (that is, are blind or have low vision)
experience." (Marston, J. R., Golledge, R. G, 2003, pg. 475) This inability to travel independently is
detrimental to the individual, it harms employment opportunities, and reduces social interactions, and
leaves those who are visually impaired feeling helpless. Add more stuff as to why this is a
problem!!!
There are five main types of information that are restricted to those with a visual impairment
that cause independent travel to be difficult especially in an unfamiliar area. These are: "Specific
information and positive identification at locations", "Spatial information accessed from a distance.",
"Directional cues to distant locations.", "Self-orientation and location.", and "Integrated model of the
space." (Marston, Golledge, 2003, pg. 476).
The following descriptions are based on the descriptions of Marston from his unpublished
doctoral dissertation. Specific information and positive identification at locations is the the ability to
identify an objects identity and function once found. Those that are visually impaired cannot do this,
for example, even if a door is found someone with a visual impairment cannot tell what the door leads
to without prior knowledge, they cannot tell whether it is the door they were looking for or not. In an
unfamiliar environment they would have no way of knowing what any door the reached lead to, this
lack of information makes exploring a new environment almost impossible without assistance. Spatial
information accessed from a distance is the ability to explore an environment rapidly and from a large
distance to the place that is being explored. Someone without a visual impairment can rapidly scan
their surrounding with their eyes, therefore knowing what the environment around them is like quickly
and in a large radius to the individual. But someone with a visual impairment generally has to rely on
shorter range senses to ascertain their surroundings, such as smell and using a cane. Because they have
to use short ranges senses the environment that is known to them is in small radius around them. So
someone with a visual impairment could be unaware of important features that are only a few feet away
from them. Directional cues to distant locations: "It can be difficult to walk directly to locations without
having to follow a learned path. With the exception of some other sensory input (sounds; air currents;
heat; or, per- haps, light perception), there are no available directional cues to guide walking to a distant
target (such as crossing a large lobby to reach an elevator)." (Marston, Golledge, 2003, pg. 476). SelfOrientation and location is the ability to easily tell where you are in reference to other objects, and
ascertain your location from this information. Those with a visual impairment cannot not do this easily,
and can only tell their location when they are in a very familiar area of undergoing a lot of training to
do so. Because of this exploring a new area is almost impossible, as its nearly impossible to keep track
of where one is, so getting lost would be inevitable. Integrated model of the space is the ability to
create a cognitive map of your surroundings. As someone with a visual impairment has extremely low
amount of information about their surroundings it is extremely difficult to build a cognitive map.
There are tools that exist to help those who are visually impaired combat these informational
deficits and increase their ability to travel independently. The most common tools are the white cane
and a guide do, which are use primarily for obstacle avoidance and do provide a somewhat greater
range for their "visible" surroundings. There are other electronic devices that complement these tools
that seek to improve obstacle avoidance and it is an issue that has received significant funding. Add
examples of electronic devices here
However, these tools do little to provide information about the functionality and/or purpose of
objects in the environment, as well as the location of objects not around the immediate location of the
visually impaired person. There are a variety of tools that exist provide this information to a visually
impaired person. The easiest method to help those with visual impairments navigate outdoors is by
utilizing something like google maps, along with GPS and a program that converts text into speech.
The visually impaired individual can input where they would like to go and the device gives the
impaired individual directions to get there, such as turn right, walk forward 60 steps and so on. This

type of design helps get a visually impaired person from place to place, but there are a couple of issues
with it. The design does nothing to help the visually impaired identify landmarks and their
surroundings as the travel to their destination, so cognitive mapping is still difficult, and the goal of
exploring a new area is not fulfilled. The second major issue is that this type of design does not easily
transfer over into an indoor environment. This is primarily because there are not readily available
"maps" of indoor environments for a program to generate routes to destinations. These issues have been
long since recognized and current designs seek to overcome these flaws in current designs in some way
or other.
As I decided to focus on way-finding in an indoor environment, the existing solutions I will be
listing are going to be dealing with the issue of traveling in an indoor environment. One design called
BlindAid attempted to help the visually impaired travel in new environments letting them explore the
(indoor) environment virtually. "BlindAid allows the users to interact with different virtual structures
and objects through auditory and haptic feedback." (Lahav, Schloerb, Srinivasan, 2014 , pg 1) This
design is intended to be used together with a traditional orientation and mobility (O&M) program. The
paper found that

Introduction : Done
Problem Definition: Done
Background: Done
Demographics:
Human Factors and other User Needs: Doneish
Existing Solutions:
Design Approaches:
Conclusion:

Loomis, J. M., Golledge, R. G., Klatzky, R. L., & Marston, J. R. (2007). Assisting wayfinding in visually
impaired travelers. In G. L. Allen (Ed.), Applied spatial cognition: From research to cognitive technology (pp.
179202). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Marston, J. R., & Golledge, R. G. (2003). The hidden demand for participation in activities and travel by persons
who are visually impaired. Journal of Visual Impairment & Blindness, 97, 475488.

Golledge, R. G. (1993). Geography and the disabled-A survey with special reference to vision impaired
and blind populations. Trans actions of the Institute of British Geographers, 18, 63-85.
Marston, J. R. (2002). Towards an accessible city: Empirical measurement and modeling of access to urban
opportunities for those with vision impairments, using remote infrared audible signage. Unpublished doctoral
dissertation, University of California, Santa Barbara. [Online] Available: <http://www.geog.ucsb. edu/-

marstonj/DIS/OVERVIEW.html>.
Lahav Orly, David W. Schloerb, and Mandayam A. Srinivasan. "Rehabilitation Program Integrating
Virtual Environment to Improve Orientation and Mobility Skills for People Who Are Blind."
Computers & Education (2014): 1-14. Print.