A virtual traffic environment for people with visual impairments

Abstract

This article reports results from a study in which ten severely visually impaired users used a virtual haptic-audio traffic environment for exploring and learning a route. The virtual environment was a model of a real traffic environment in Lund, Sweden, and included 484 static objects and 35 dynamic objects (cars and bicycles). Eight of the ten users were able to handle this large and complex environment, and the same users also succeeded in navigating the real traffic section from which the virtual environment was modeled. The users navigating the virtual world most easily were those that also were very good at navigating with a cane. Further results such as the identification of two different exploration strategies in the virtual model, different usages of this kind of model and the importance of relevant initial information are also discussed.