9 Electronic Travel Aids: An Assessment

Learning Objectives

Many assistive technology mobility products are expensive. Visually impaired people are a community group with considerable variability in their range of sight abilities. Thus, it is very useful to learn about the relative successes and limitations of many of the currently available mobility products; this chapter provides the framework for such an assessment.

The chapter opens with an analysis of the various types of methods that can be used to set-up an end-user assessment exercise. Part of this concerns the framework of user requirements of the products to be assessed and another part is concerned with selecting the way of collecting the raw data of end-users responses and experiences.

The second part of the chapter presents the author’s findings for an end-user assessment of six obstacle avoidance mobility aids and two accessible navigation aids. The chapter closes with a discussion on the importance of training to achieve the best return from the use of advanced technology to assist in mobility and navigation.

Thus, the emphasis of this chapter is not on the technology but on user needs and the interactions between user, technology, task and environment. By the end of this chapter you should:

•Understand why assessments of electronic travel aids should be user-focused.

•Be able to identify a number of techniques that may be used in user-focused assessments and user requirements gathering.

•Be able to identify key advantages and disadvantages with these methods.

•Understand the distinction between mobility and navigation aids.

•Understand the distinction between primary and secondary travel aids.

•Be able to identify key user-focused advantages and disadvantages of a selection of electronic travel aids.

•Understand some of the user-focused strengths and weaknesses of modern-day electronic travel aids in general.

290 9 Electronic Travel Aids: An Assessment

•Understand some of the key problems with the current lack of specialised training in the use of electronic travel aids.

9.1 Introduction

Research and development into electronic travel aids for blind and visually impaired people has been under way for around four decades. From the earliest days of this research to the present there have been many technological successes. Today we see refinements of some of the early electronic travel aids being used in modern devices and we see new innovative technologies being developed. Despite the technological successes, few blind or visually impaired people use an electronic travel aid.

Why is it that there are electronic travel aids out there, which perform well technologically, yet their take-up by potential users, that is blind or visually impaired people, is low? Do blind and visually impaired people not have difficulties travelling? Do they not want devices to assist their travel? Why is it that these technologically successful electronic travel aids are not being used by blind and visually impaired people?

Some blind and visually impaired people can and do travel safely and independently but many do not. According to Golledge (1993), independent travel and interacting with the wider world is the biggest hurdle that blind and visually impaired people face. A survey of the mobility of blind and partially sighted people in Nottingham found that three in ten blind or visually impaired people never go out alone (Clark-Carter et al. 1981). The number of older people with vision loss who never go out alone is even higher, at around two in every three elderly persons (Yerasimou 2002). As many as 86% of blind and visually impaired people feel that difficulties using public transport have adversely affected their job opportunities (Campion et al. 2003). Yerasimou (2002) reports that accidents, such as knocks, trips and crashes are commonplace for blind and visually impaired travellers and that the fear of such accidents and the fear of becoming disorientated or lost deter many from independent travel. There is, then, plenty of evidence to show that independent travel is a challenge for blind and visually impaired people. So, why are electronic travel aids not in great demand?

There are, it seems, many factors that contribute to the low take-up of electronic travel aids by blind and visually impaired people. Technological performance is only part of the equation. Technology does not operate in isolation, it must be considered within the broader context. Users interact with technology to perform tasks within a social, economic, political and physical environment. All these factors need to be considered when assessing technologies, such as electronic travel aids.

As an example, consider the scenario of a blind long cane user walking along a familiar platform at a busy train station. In this case, the user, that is the blind person, knows the way, the technology, that is the long cane, is well suited to detecting obstacles and hazards including the edges of platforms, and thereby facilitates the task of safely walking along the platform. What happens, though,

when other passengers stand in the way? The long cane hits them like any other obstacle. Whilst most people will accept an apology and be understanding some may be angered by being whacked around the ankles by a long cane. What was a simple task of walking along then becomes an uncomfortable social interaction. Now think about what happens if a well-intentioned person wants to help our user but does not know how to go about helping? Taking a true anecdote, in one such instance the eager-to-help sighted person took hold of the tip end of the user’s long cane and attempted to steer our user along. This rendered the long cane useless. No longer could it detect obstacles, this method of attempting to guide is ineffective, thus the task became impossible and changed to one of explaining to the sighted person that help was not required and persuading him, to let go of the long cane. Additionally, if a train were to arrive, creating substantial amounts of noise, this may interfere with the user’s ability to listen to the echoes created by the sound of the cane tip, thus reducing the user’s ability to use echolocation to hear the location of obstacles and gaps. This example shows how physical and social factors can influence users of travel devices. These factors, and others, must be taken into account by assessments of travel aids.

This chapter looks at user-focused assessment of electronic travel aids. First, it considers a number of methodologies for determining user requirements, of performing user-focused evaluations of electronic travel aids and considers some of the methodological issues that need to be addressed in the design of research involving participants with visual impairments. Second, it takes a look at how well some modern-day electronic travel aids meet the needs of potential users. Finally, it considers the requirements users have for training in the use of electronic travel aids. The emphasis of this chapter is not on the technology but on user needs and the interactions between user, technology, task and environment.

9.2 Why Do an Assessment?

Before embarking on any assessment of electronic travel aids it is crucial to answer the question: Why is this assessment being done? What is it purpose? An assessment may be intended to enable comparison between different electronic travel aids. It may be to establish how well suited, to the needs of users, a particular device is. It maybe to establish how much benefit users can experience from using the device. Perhaps, though, the most valuable assessments are those that seek to identify strengths and weaknesses of one or more devices. This information can be used to guide future developments, ensuring that the development process is streamlined to the target of meeting user needs. This kind of formative assessment, or profiling, records both positive and negative points. Subsequent development can act upon this information. Thus, this is an important element in designing electronic travel aids of the future. It helps to ensure that future devices will be both technologically successful and more widely used. This kind of assessment will usually need to be thorough and, therefore, in the short term may appear a costly exercise. The benefits of such comprehensive formative assessments, however, will be realised on later iterations of the design cycle.