VR Wayfinding Training for People with Visual Impairment using VR Treadmill and VR Tracker

Abstract

There are virtual reality (VR) wayfinding training systems for people with visual impairment, but there is a lack of studies about how training environments can affect spatial information acquisition of people with visual impairment. Using a VR treadmill and a VR tracker, we studied how walk-in-place and actual walking can affect the acquisition of spatial information with regard to paths and obstacles. Our results show that people with visual impairment remember routes better when trained with VR treadmill, but they remember obstacles better when trained with VR tracker. We evaluate the respective efficacies of these approaches on spatial information memorization.