Multimodal Navigation Systems for Users with Visual Impairments—A Review and Analysis

TLDR

Multimodal interaction enables users to engage with systems through multiple modes, and while researchers explore multimodality across various domains, no comprehensive synthesis of multimodal navigation systems for visually impaired users exists. The paper reviews and analyzes multimodal navigation solutions for visually impaired users, offers recommendations for effective systems, and calls for further research into users’ evolving modality preferences. The review synthesizes existing multimodal navigation solutions, proposes design recommendations, and highlights challenges in their design, implementation, and use.

Abstract

Multimodal interaction refers to situations where users are provided with multiple modes for interacting with systems. Researchers are working on multimodality solutions in several domains. The focus of this paper is within the domain of navigation systems for supporting users with visual impairments. Although several literature reviews have covered this domain, none have gone through the research synthesis of multimodal navigation systems. This paper provides a review and analysis of multimodal navigation solutions aimed at people with visual impairments. This review also puts forward recommendations for effective multimodal navigation systems. Moreover, this review also presents the challenges faced during the design, implementation and use of multimodal navigation systems. We call for more research to better understand the users’ evolving modality preferences during navigation.