CAREER: Designing Head-Mounted Display Systems to Support People with Low Vision in Outdoor Navigation

Cornell University, Ithaca NY

Investigators

Abstract

Even with guide canes and dogs, people with visual impairments face severe challenges when navigating outdoors. Researchers have proposed mobility and wayfinding systems like smart canes and accessible routing applications that provide a range of audio or haptic feedback. However, over 90% of the visually impaired population has low vision, which means they have usable but limited vision that cannot be fully corrected. People with low vision typically prefer to use their vision and not rely on audio or haptic tools. This research program aims to design applications for this user community. Unlike prior approaches to accessible navigation, different kinds of visual enhancements and audio cues will be explored to help with several outdoor navigation tasks. Project outcomes will help developers of low vision technologies, teachers, orientation and mobility instructors, and rehabilitation counselors who work with people with low vision. Additional broader impact will derive from this research by engaging people with disabilities as members of the team as well as through the design of a new accessibility course in which students have extended interactions with mentors who have disabilities. This research will develop and evaluate applications for head-mounted displays that provide targeted visual and audio enhancements and cues to help people with low vision in outdoor navigation tasks. Through an iterative user-centered design process, different types of vision enhancements and visual and audio cues, such as magnification, arrows, and beeps, will be designed and compared. These enhancements and cues will highlight salient information in the environment and increase its accessibility. Four navigation tasks will be addressed: avoiding obstacles in one's path, navigating elevation changes, reading signs, and wayfinding to a specified destination. For each task, one or more functional prototypes will be implemented and evaluated in naturalistic settings with involvement of members of the target user community. Based on the findings, guidelines for the use of visual vs. audio cues for different kinds of low vision conditions will be promulgated. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.