"Listen2dRoom": Helping Blind Individuals Understand Room Layouts

Abstract

Over half a million Americans are legally blind. Despite much effort in assistive technology, blindness remains a major challenge to accessibility. For individuals who are blind, there has been considerable research on indoor/outdoor way finding, but there has been little research on room layout information. The purpose of the current research is to support blind individuals to understand the layout of an unfamiliar room. We found some important applications for this type of assistive technology such as safety, easy-to-use furniture and home appliances. To this end, we identified user needs and variables with blind participants, designed and evaluated prototype systems, and iteratively improved the system. The overall process, findings, and on-going future works are discussed. This effort is expected to enhance independence for persons who are blind.