Enhancing the safety of visually impaired travellers in and around transit stations.

Details

• Creators:
  Dias, Bernardine ; Teves, Ermine ; Hochendoner, Eric ; Sistla, Praneetha ; Min, Byung-Cheol ; Steinfeld, Aaron
• Corporate Creators:
  Technologies for Safe and Efficient Transportation. University Transportation Center
• Corporate Contributors:
  United States. Department of Transportation. University Transportation Centers (UTC) Program ; United States. Department of Transportation. Research and Innovative Technology Administration
• Subject/TRT Terms:
  • Assistive technology
  • Blind persons
  • Mobile applications
  • Rail transit stations
  • Smartphones
  • User interfaces (Computer science)
  • Visually impaired persons
  • Pedestrians
  • Cyclists Data and information technology
  • public transportation
• Resource Type:
  Tech Report
• Geographical Coverage:
  United States
• Edition:
  Final research report
• Corporate Publisher:
  Technologies for Safe and Efficient Transportation. University Transportation Center
• Abstract:
  The TechBridge World research group at Carnegie Mellon University has been exploring specific needs and constraints encountered by blind or visually impaired (B/VI) adults when using transit stations. Through this work, the findings indicated a strong need for a tool that allows these travelers to annotate routes with their own notes of useful information, and to easily obtain and use relevant information from trusted sources. The authors initially prototyped an accessible Android smartphone tool that has significant potential to enhance the safety of these travelers. The authors developed two interfaces for this prototype tool: 1) for B/VI trusted sources, and 2) for sighted trusted individuals. Based on feedback received from the initial prototype, the research team focused on re-designing the NavPal app to enhance its robustness and user interface, and to allow for seamless integration of both indoor and outdoor navigation. This document describes the NavPal prototype app as well as the findings from a user study to determine the components' effectiveness and solicit feedback for improvement.
• Format:
  PDF
• Funding:
  DTRT12GUTG11
• Download URL:
  https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/31302/dot_31302_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 1.83 MB]
• Collection(s):
  University Transportation Centers ; US Transportation Collection
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:1e85f81e0dba58d4c2a3afbdc8711f314cd353e22d306740cacef367332535b3754e0de11ce0b117b83601b342162b08f10f3a541021d7634279a324af2d39c0