Landmark identification with wearables for supporting spatial awareness by blind persons

Abstract

This paper describes our research on feedback mechanisms of wearables for supporting indoor landmark identification in the context of blind pedestrians' mobility. It contributes with a promising alternative to audible patterns, which are consistently related to the 'masking phenomenon'. It also contributes with many lessons and insights that could benefit the designer of wearables for blind users. We started from an observational study followed by co-creation workshops with designers and potential users. The resulting prototypes were used in two Case Studies. The first study investigated the occurrence of 'masking', a problem caused by technology that affects negatively the sensorial perception of the wearer. The second study investigated the usefulness of the wearables for the identification of landmarks. The wearable succeeded in both tests for the particular context in which it was used.