Wayfinding tasks in visually impaired people: the role of tactile maps

Abstract

Wayfinding is one aspect of cognitive mapping that includes the features of encoding, processing and retrieving information about the environment (Golledge 1999; Kitchin and Blades 2001; Blades et al. 2002). Such ability refers to the cognitive patterns of learning a route and retracing it from memory. Orienting oneself in a new environment and moving efficiently and independently are difficult tasks which depend upon a series of processes of high cognitive complexity (Espinosa et al. 1998). These tasks are even more complicated in the case of blind and visually impaired people, thus the abilities of both travelling independently and interacting with the outer world are the greatest challenges for this specific population (Golledge 1993).