This project was conducted at the Cognitive Assistance Lab at Carnegie Mellon University. I worked with my supervisors, Chieko Asakawa and Kris Kitani, and my former lab members, Daisuke Sato, João Guerreiro, and Donghyun Yoo.
We aim to investigate existing navigational and information access issues faced by visually impaired pedestrians and examine how a prototype navigation system using smartphones or a navigation robot might help. One user scenario was hospital navigation that poses many wayfinding challenges for visitors, especially for those with visual impairments who cannot rely on visual signage. Another user scenario was in shopping center aisles, where blind shoppers cannot fully experience the leisure activity without receiving assistance from other people.
We conducted exploratory research consisting of questionnaires and focus groups presented to participants with visual impairments to inform future research and development of the advanced navigation system. The questionnaires were performed in person and through an online form. User testing was conducted in laboratory and wild settings to examine the effectiveness of a prototype.
In the works.
This project was supported by Shimizu Corporation and NIDILRR (#90REGE0008).