Wearable Travel Aids for Blind and Partially Sighted People: A Review with a Focus on Design Issues
The ability to travel (independently) is very important for participation in education, work, leisure activities, and all other aspects of modern life. Blind and partially sighted people experience a number of barriers to travel, including inaccessible information and environments, and consequently...
| Main Author: | |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2022-07-01
|
| Series: | Sensors |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/22/14/5454 |
| _version_ | 1827626771135070208 |
|---|---|
| author | Marion Hersh |
| author_facet | Marion Hersh |
| author_sort | Marion Hersh |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The ability to travel (independently) is very important for participation in education, work, leisure activities, and all other aspects of modern life. Blind and partially sighted people experience a number of barriers to travel, including inaccessible information and environments, and consequently require support from technology or other people to overcome them. Despite the potential of advanced technologies and the development of electronic travel aids, the long cane and guide dog remains the most commonly used solutions. Wearable technologies are becoming increasingly popular. They have the particular advantage of keeping the hands free, thereby facilitating the use of a long cane, guide dog or another device at the same time. They also have the potential to change the ways in which users interact with the environment. The main contributions of this paper are surveying the current state-of-the-art of travel aids from a design perspective and investigating the following issues: (1) The important design issues in wearable travel aids and the extent to which they are taken into account in different devices; (2) The relationship, if any, between where and how travel aids are worn and their design, features and functions; (3) Limitations of existing devices, gaps in provision and future research directions, particularly with regard to meeting potential users’ needs. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T13:02:14Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-e519f792092f4533804c84e22797cd6b |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1424-8220 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T13:02:14Z |
| publishDate | 2022-07-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Sensors |
| spelling | doaj.art-e519f792092f4533804c84e22797cd6b2023-11-30T21:52:57ZengMDPI AGSensors1424-82202022-07-012214545410.3390/s22145454Wearable Travel Aids for Blind and Partially Sighted People: A Review with a Focus on Design IssuesMarion Hersh0Biomedical Engineering, University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8QQ, Scotland, UKThe ability to travel (independently) is very important for participation in education, work, leisure activities, and all other aspects of modern life. Blind and partially sighted people experience a number of barriers to travel, including inaccessible information and environments, and consequently require support from technology or other people to overcome them. Despite the potential of advanced technologies and the development of electronic travel aids, the long cane and guide dog remains the most commonly used solutions. Wearable technologies are becoming increasingly popular. They have the particular advantage of keeping the hands free, thereby facilitating the use of a long cane, guide dog or another device at the same time. They also have the potential to change the ways in which users interact with the environment. The main contributions of this paper are surveying the current state-of-the-art of travel aids from a design perspective and investigating the following issues: (1) The important design issues in wearable travel aids and the extent to which they are taken into account in different devices; (2) The relationship, if any, between where and how travel aids are worn and their design, features and functions; (3) Limitations of existing devices, gaps in provision and future research directions, particularly with regard to meeting potential users’ needs.https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/22/14/5454travel aidblinddesignwearabilityfeatures and functions |
| spellingShingle | Marion Hersh Wearable Travel Aids for Blind and Partially Sighted People: A Review with a Focus on Design Issues Sensors travel aid blind design wearability features and functions |
| title | Wearable Travel Aids for Blind and Partially Sighted People: A Review with a Focus on Design Issues |
| title_full | Wearable Travel Aids for Blind and Partially Sighted People: A Review with a Focus on Design Issues |
| title_fullStr | Wearable Travel Aids for Blind and Partially Sighted People: A Review with a Focus on Design Issues |
| title_full_unstemmed | Wearable Travel Aids for Blind and Partially Sighted People: A Review with a Focus on Design Issues |
| title_short | Wearable Travel Aids for Blind and Partially Sighted People: A Review with a Focus on Design Issues |
| title_sort | wearable travel aids for blind and partially sighted people a review with a focus on design issues |
| topic | travel aid blind design wearability features and functions |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/22/14/5454 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT marionhersh wearabletravelaidsforblindandpartiallysightedpeopleareviewwithafocusondesignissues |