Sound Perception of Blind Older Adults in Nursing Homes

The number of blind older adults is gradually increasing with the aging of world’s population, and their needs and perception of sound are specific. This study investigated the behavioral activities of blind older adults and the dominant sound sources through on-site observation of an all-blind nursing home in China, and it used semi-structured interviews to obtain the sound perceptions of blind older adults. The findings showed that the daily behavioral activities can be categorized into basic living activity, leisure activity, social activity; and physical activity. The dominant sound sources included human, equipment, informational, and environmental sounds. This study developed a sound perception model of blind older adults in nursing homes, which takes three levels: sound requirements, acoustic environment, and sound cognition. Firstly, the blind older adults have a basic understanding of sound from the perspective of their living needs, then they feel the sound environment from the perspective of the living environment, and finally, they perceive the acoustic environment from the dimension of sound cognition in conjunction with contextual memory. This study sheds a light on the aural diversity of older adults, which is expected to support the inclusive design of nursing homes for older adults with visual impairments

The Impact of Weather Conditions and Infrastructure Design on the Mobility of People with Impaired Vision

University of Minnesota M.S. thesis. July 2019. Major: Design. Advisor: Gordon Legge. 1 computer file (PDF); viii, 104 pages.Nineteen normally-sighted, low vision, and blind pedestrians provided self-reported effects of environmental, infrastructural, and social factors influencing outdoor mobility in the Minnesota’s Twin-Cities metropolitan area. Focus groups and interviews were conducted to gather data on challenges associated with year-round, independent outdoor navigation emphasizing winter pedestrian mobility. Study themes included weather pressures (e.g., precipitation, temperature), infrastructural/engineering features (e.g., street, sidewalk, intersection design and maintenance), and safety concerns related to motorists and obstacles. Results identify pedestrian hazard impacts on quality of life and behavioral adaptations visually-impaired pedestrians create to increase safety and efficiency during mobility. Conclusions prompt considerations for urban planners, engineers, community activists, and stakeholders concerning mobility issues for visually-impaired pedestrians. Recommendations are provided to promote equity and wellbeing in pedestrian mobility

Follow the Sound : Design of mobile spatial audio applications for pedestrian navigation

Auditory displays are slower than graphical user interfaces. We believe spatial audio can change that. Human perception can localize the position of sound sources due to psychoacoustical cues. Spatial audio reproduces these cues to produce virtual sound source position by headphones. The spatial attribute of sound can be used to produce richer and more effective auditory displays. In this work, there is proposed a set of interaction design guidelines for the use of spatial audio displays in a mobile context. These guidelines are inferred from psychoacoustical theory, design theory and experience with prototype development. The horizontal front arc is presented as the optimum area for sound localization, and the use of head- or body-tracking is stated to be highly beneficial. Blind and visually impaired pedestrians may use auditory displays on mobile devices as navigation aids. Such aids have the potential to give visually impaired access to the environment and independence of movement. Custom made hardware is not always needed, as today’s smartphones offer a powerful platform for specialized applications. The Sound Guide prototype application was developed for the Apple iPhone and offered route guidance through the spatial position of audio icons. Real-time directional guidance was achieved through the use of GPS, compass sensor and gyroscope sensor. Spatial audio was accomplished through the use of prefiltered audio tracks that represented a 360° horizontal circle around the user. The source code of this prototype is made available to the community. Field tests of the prototype were done with three participants and one pilot tester that were visually impaired. One route was navigated with the help of the prototype. Interviews were done to get background information on navigation for visually impaired pedestrians. This was done to see how the prototype was received by visually impaired test users and what can be done to improve the concept in later development. Even though the prototype suffered from technical instabilities during the field tests, the general responses were positive. The blind participants saw potential in this technology and how it could be used in providing directional information. A range of improvements on the concept has been proposed

Visual Impairment and Blindness

Blindness and vision impairment affect at least 2.2 billion people worldwide with most individuals having a preventable vision impairment. The majority of people with vision impairment are older than 50 years, however, vision loss can affect people of all ages. Reduced eyesight can have major and long-lasting effects on all aspects of life, including daily personal activities, interacting with the community, school and work opportunities, and the ability to access public services. This book provides an overview of the effects of blindness and visual impairment in the context of the most common causes of blindness in older adults as well as children, including retinal disorders, cataracts, glaucoma, and macular or corneal degeneration

Self-Confidence Levels in Sequential Learning Versus Structured Discovery Cane Travel, Post Orientation and Mobility Instruction: A Comparison Study

Sequential Learning (SL), the medical model of Orientation and Mobility (O&M)was designed for blinded WWII veterans in the 1940s. This preeminent curriculum monopolized the O&M profession, creating a paradigm paralysis, until Structured Discovery Cane Travel (SDCT) made its official debut in 1997. The conceptual framework for this study is Glasser\u27s choice theory (1998) whereby ideas or systems of belief direct or oversee behavior, and this principle holds true for both O&M professionals and individuals who are blind or visually impaired (consumers). A comparison study answered the research question; that is, at what distance and frequency do consumers travel independently post-instruction and how does this differ between the two curriculums? Data was collected through a quantitative study in which 40 participants (20 SL, 20 SDCT) voluntarily responded to an electronic survey. Because of their increased frequency and distances traveled and their decreased need for additional training, study results revealed SDCT consumers’ self-confidence is higher than SL consumers by 32%. In addition, this study discovered when sighted guide instruction commences prior to introduction of the long, white cane (as in the SL curriculum); self-confidence is hindered and leads consumers toward the Custodial Paradigm. However, when instruction of the long, white cane and problem-solving is paramount (as in the SDCT curriculum); the foundation for ongoing successful O&M post-instruction is likely whereby consumers are lead toward the Independence Paradigm

Investigating the spatial understanding of children who are blind through the use of the child's voice

This thesis is intended to impact positively on our ability to understand and describe spatial awareness of children who are blind by investigating children’s explanations, understanding, feelings and coping strategies in their use of space in their everyday experience. It examines whether children who are blind are capable of providing reliable information that informs our knowledge of how they perceive space and how they achieve spatial understanding. The thesis also examines whether children’s voices inform the ideas, the theoretical perspectives and the positions adopted by researchers over the years that are found in the literature, in this complex field. The results are discussed in terms of their implications for the theoretical understanding of children’s experience of spatiality and the diversity of environmental circumstances to which they need to adapt. The results are also discussed in terms of their implications for practice by providing practitioners with theorized evidence of practice that supports the effective learning. Taken together, the evidence suggests that children who are blind are able to verbalize their knowledge about spatial relationships using a wide range of sensory and cognitive strategies and demonstrating a sophisticated understanding of space; thus suggesting that cognitive experiments may not be the only way to study spatial processing in children who are blind

Virtual Reality Games for Motor Rehabilitation

This paper presents a fuzzy logic based method to track user satisfaction without the need for devices to monitor users physiological conditions. User satisfaction is the key to any product’s acceptance; computer applications and video games provide a unique opportunity to provide a tailored environment for each user to better suit their needs. We have implemented a non-adaptive fuzzy logic model of emotion, based on the emotional component of the Fuzzy Logic Adaptive Model of Emotion (FLAME) proposed by El-Nasr, to estimate player emotion in UnrealTournament 2004. In this paper we describe the implementation of this system and present the results of one of several play tests. Our research contradicts the current literature that suggests physiological measurements are needed. We show that it is possible to use a software only method to estimate user emotion

Evidence Based Design: A scientific review for architectural applications

For centuries architectural cues have been subjectively created and designed on intuition, some are well-done and others fail. Occupants interpret the space about them giving the context meaning and defining a program. While those interpretations will vary due to varying cultures, personalities, and experiences the common denominator for perception is the neuroscience behind the hundreds of stimuli receiving information from the confounding space. Designers should think out those stimuli and carefully design for the best impressionable impact. The proposal herein is to encourage designers to strive for the best sensory environment beyond subjective methodologies and into objective studies. A growing field that encourages architects to acquire data and test hypotheses is evidencebased design that seeks to enhance the possibilities of spatial impact on human perception and behavior. The purpose of this thesis is to explore the possibilities within science, particularly neuroscience, to discover how to create enhanced sensory impressions. The methodology undertaken follows the three research typologies typical of evidence-based development. The first is a literature review of the emergence of architectural design from an historical subjective application to an amalgamation with objective practice. An anatomy of the body, senses, and neurology is unveiled as a basis to understand the realm through which architectural stimuli must pass to elicit any type of response. To test the application of physiological evidence for design an experiment is conducted in which blood pressure, heart rate, and written survey measures are taken to discover impacts of color on a participants review of space. In response to both experimental data and research findings, the final step has been to create a prototypical design that applies evidence to architectural applications followed by analyses of participants’ interpretations. Throughout this dissertation research studies are intertwined to help bridge the connection between science and architecture to enlighten the reader of the possibilities instilled in this art for humanity

Visual impairment: its impact upon and implications for aesthetic experience

With this research programme, I will be looking at how visually impaired people interpret the sensory inputs that artwork evokes together with the spatial environment that visually impaired people engage with. The study intertwines concepts of aesthetics that have specific relevance for visually impaired people, together with the processes and concepts associated with vision. The study refers to some common beliefs regarding blindness and provides some evidence of links between art and blindness. The study reflects upon how human cognitive processes are different for blind people, the use of verbal description used by visually impaired people and comments upon the logical reasoning processes developed by people with sight loss. Finally the study teases out methods of media manipulation, the interplay of different sensory stimulus and the control that visually impaired people endeavour to exert over an unseen environment. The nature of this research will be developed into a programme which explores and revisits the central themes of study using a system of concentric evolution. (See methodology section.) As a result, this 'intertwining study' will examine the values of each strand of research and will provide data regarding the aesthetic understanding and creative processes used by people with visual impairment, together with an appreciation of the methods blind people engage with to understand and use spatial properties