Blind or visually impaired people use senses other than vision to obtain spatial information and to solve the problem of wayfinding. Therefore, the conditions of the physical environment can have a profound impact on their wayfinding performance. In this study, we use Q methodology to investigate the correlation between the subjective awareness and physical environment of the blind or visually impaired people. The outcomes of this study indicate that habits and experiences are sufficient and required for environmental perceptions. Architectural elements in the environment can provide the blinds or visually impaired people with a 2D plane and 3D spatial and functional significances. The most effective architectural element provides clues which can include: changes in materials, the level of the terrain slope, the arrangement of architectural elements for obstacle perception, appropriate space for creating echoes, and the order of architectural elements. Environmental designers are expected to create a friendly environment for the blinds or visually impaired people by optimally using the architectural elements in the designed environment based on the study outcomes.
Abstract:Andy is a 20years old college student who was born blind without visual memory and light sensitization. He lives in the school dormitory from Mondays through Fridays and spends most of his time on campus. Andy tells us that he has had experience since childhood in using echoes to search for objects and spatial scales in the environment (e.g. buildings, plants, doorways, etc.). He believes "using echoes to identify one's location is an effective method". Thus, we investigated objects that can provide Andy good echoes when he is walking along a specific route on campus. Such object is usually an element of campus design and is set by the designer. This study refers to these objects, of which echoes can be perceived, as echolocation cues.
Orientations and movements affect the ability of blind people to independently act and live in the environment. The purpose of this research is to develop the guiding facility in campus for blind people by the architecture plans. Through observations at site, interviews, and cognition sketch maps, we found the blind people are easily lost at intersection. When they are lost, they are disorientated in the environment. The constructed cognition maps suddenly lost the functions. According to documents, through RFID (Radio Frequency Identification Technology), the real-time message can be transmitted in the environment. In this paper, the configuration for the barrier free environment in campus is developed with RFID technology based on the requirements of users. This can provide references to the environmental designers for the configuration of facility for guiding blind people in the public spatial environment.
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