Abstract
Voice navigation with information and communication technologies allows the visually impaired (VI) to grasp the current situation promptly. While instruction prior to the action e.g. turning a corner, seems to be effective, the optimum lead distance remains unclear. This paper verifies experimentally the optimum lead distance to support VI while walking. In the experiment, each subject (normal vision) walked while wearing an eye mask to simulate VI, holding a white cane, and received voice guidance. After each trial, the subject scored the lead distance in terms of acceptability. 28 young healthy males/females participated. Results showed the highest score was for 3 m while the lowest was for 5 m. Distance range with score over 3 (average) was 2 to 4 m. No clear significant difference was observed in terms of subject height. As walking speed was around 0.55 m/s, 1 m was deemed insufficient. 5 m or more seemed to be too long as subjects failed to predict accurately how far they had moved. This experiment verified that VI voice navigation turn instructions are effective if given more than 1m and less than 4 m before the turning point.
Highlights
Due to the spread of diabetic disease, the number of the visually impaired (VI) is increasing
More than 285 million (M) people worldwide suffer from vision loss that interferes with daily activities
As seen in the figure, all subjects walked longer regardless of the distance and their deviations increased with distance
Summary
Due to the spread of diabetic disease, the number of the visually impaired (VI) is increasing. As more than 80 % of the information obtained by healthy people is generally derived from visual information [1], any vision impairment complicates daily life. The VI emphasizes the remaining senses of touching, hearing, smell and taste [1]. There are two main types; totally blind and partially blind. More than 285 million (M) people worldwide suffer from vision loss that interferes with daily activities. In Japan, about 0.3 M people are visually impaired and the number is increasing year by year [2]
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