The design and evaluation of an auditory navigation system for blind and visually impaired

Previous research has highlighted that blind and visually impaired people find various factors inhibit their abilities to make journeys. This paper proposes that the lack of appropriate and timely navigation information is one of the factors for this issue. The objective of this study is to examine the effects of completeness of information and broadcasting timing on blind people performance in using navigation system procedures. Sixteen subjects participated in this experiment and each subject performed an actual Way-finding test to get back and forth between Xi-mending and TDTB (Taiwan Digital Talking Books association) locations. Results demonstrated that the broadcasting timing significantly influenced the walking time, missed routes, and workload. Results suggested that the performance with broadcasting timing in 5m of navigation system was better than that of broadcasting timing in 7m. It highlighted that a new broadcasting pattern of voice information by providing navigation information about their surroundings in a relevant, efficient and usable way may facilitate more accessible travel for blind and partially sighted people.