Abstract
Spatial orientation and navigation depend primarily on vision. Blind people lack this critical source of information. To facilitate wayfinding and to increase the feeling of safety for these people, the “feelSpace belt” was developed. The belt signals magnetic north as a fixed reference frame via vibrotactile stimulation. This study investigates the effect of the belt on typical orientation and navigation tasks and evaluates the emotional impact. Eleven blind subjects wore the belt daily for seven weeks. Before, during and after the study period, they filled in questionnaires to document their experiences. A small sub-group of the subjects took part in behavioural experiments before and after four weeks of training, i.e., a straight-line walking task to evaluate the belt’s effect on keeping a straight heading, an angular rotation task to examine effects on egocentric orientation, and a triangle completion navigation task to test the ability to take shortcuts. The belt reduced subjective discomfort and increased confidence during navigation. Additionally, the participants felt safer wearing the belt in various outdoor situations. Furthermore, the behavioural tasks point towards an intuitive comprehension of the belt. Altogether, the blind participants benefited from the vibrotactile belt as an assistive technology in challenging everyday situations.
Highlights
Wayfinding is a highly complex and important activity in everyday life
We investigated the performance of a subgroup of participants in behavioural tasks to test whether the belt influenced their orientation and navigation abilities before and four weeks into the study
We evaluated the impact of the feelSpace belt on the emotional benefit in situations of traffic the subjective experience orientational of the blind
Summary
Wayfinding is a highly complex and important activity in everyday life. Success depends on a number of factors, e.g., on a person’s spatio-cognitive abilities, i.e., understanding space and manipulating it mentally [1]. This is especially challenging for those with visual impairments, as they cannot rely on the main source of spatial layout information: vision. According to the WHO, about 30 million visually impaired and blind people live in the EU [2]. Navigation skills are of great importance for partaking in society, e.g., participating in education, the labour market and civic life. Supporting visually impaired people in their ability to find their way in everyday life is vital
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