Wayfinding Information for Congenitally Blind Individuals

Abstract

The paper reports on a wayfinding study aimed at identifying the information needs of the congenitally totally blind population. A route-finding experiment in a complex architectural setting was undertaken with a group of 15 congenitally totally blind and a matched control group of 15 sighted subjects. The experiment showed that, compared to the sighted control group, the blind persons planned the journey in more detail, requiring for this purpose additional environmental information. During the journey, they formulated significantly more decisions and used significantly more units of information than the sighted control. Furthermore, the nature of the information used and its source were also different for the two groups. A cognitive mapping exercise, on the other hand, showed the blind to perform virtually as well as the sighted person.

Spatial perspective-taking: insights from sensory impairments

“…For example, colour is represented in a categorical manner in sighted individuals and this may also be the case for the blind, yet the categorical nature of the representation in the blind may rely instead on abstract knowledge rather than visual experience (Cattaneo et al 2008 ). The use of alternative strategies for spatial representation may result in similar or even superior performance for congenitally blind compared to blindfolded-sighted individuals in tasks involving navigation (Passini et al 1988 ; Tinti et al 2006 ). More recent evidence suggests that the blind may rely less on mental imagery and more on a strategy of verbal rehearsal to complete these types of navigation tasks (Schmidt et al 2013 ).…”

Fragmenting and integrating visuospatial working memory

“…In the strong version of the hypothesis, vision or visual experience is a prerequisite for spatial representations because these representations must be coded visually (Hartlage, 1969;Hebb, 1949;Schlaegel, 1953). The wealth of evidence showing that congenitally blind individuals are quite capable of representing spatial information refutes this obligatory dependence on visual experience (e.g., Golledge et al, 1996;Leonard & Newman, 1967;Passini, Delisle, Langlois, & Prouis, 1988;Passini, Proulx, & Rainville, 1990;Tinti, Adenzato, Tamietto, & Cornoldi, 2006). However, several lines of research appear to implicitly support a more moderate version of the hypothesis which gives special status to vision as the primary modality for spatial learning and memory (e.g., Attneave & Benson, 1969;Bertelson & Radeau, 1981;Mastroianni, 1982;Platt & Warren, 1972;Rock, 1966;Vecchi, Tinti, & Cornoldi, 2004;Warren, 1970).…”

“…There is clear evidence for the use of patterns of olfactory cues to guide navigation in birds (e.g., Wallraff, 2004) and rats (e.g., Rossier & Schenk, 2003). In humans, blind individuals report using a variety of cues to orient and navigate (e.g., Golledge et al, 1996;Golledge, Marston, Loomis, & Klatzky, 2004;Millar, 1994;Passini et al, 1988), and even sighted individuals can effectively follow auditory cues to navigate (Klatzky, Marston, Giudice, Golledge, & Loomis, 2006). As such, the role of visual information in cue-guided landmark navigation depends on what cues are serving as the landmarks, which, for sighted humans, are more likely to be visual than nonvisual.…”

A foundation for tool based mobility support for visually impaired web users

“…Increased usage of landmarks or reference points is one of the strategies used by visually impaired people to travel efficiently in their homes and communities [16]. Landmarks have to communicate some specific, identifiable features [20]. They may be primarily physical objects, but they can be sounds, odours, temperature or tactual stimuli [4,16,20].…”

“…Landmarks have to communicate some specific, identifiable features [20]. They may be primarily physical objects, but they can be sounds, odours, temperature or tactual stimuli [4,16,20].…”