Visually handicapped pedestrians and the sound environment: Developmental change of the use of auditory information

Abstract

The visually handicapped, who rely on auditory information, are supposed to take the sound environment in greatly different ways than the nonhandicapped. A survey was conducted about the developmental change of the use of auditory information for the visually handicapped. The purpose of this study is to create a better sound environment for the visually handicapped and the nonhandicapped to live in together. Interviews with 13 visually handicapped students (9–18 years old) and 19 visually handicapped adults were conducted to investigate how they use the auditory information. Interviewees who had little experience in walking around could hardly recognize the surrounding space by making use of the auditory information. They seemed to walk and to move in the behavioral patterns using their own specific information. It was found that they actively used the auditory information to avoid danger, for example, sounds from cars. On the other hand, those who had much experience used the auditory information to recognize stores and houses on a street. They used the auditory information to avoid danger unconsciously. In addition, some of them reported that they often had two-dimensional mental maps and put landmarks on the maps using the auditory information.