Literature Reviews
Reviewed research papers, articles, and publications relevant to digital accessibility.
106 results found tagged wayfinding.
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Travelling more independently: A Requirements Analysis for Accessible Journeys to Unknown Buildings for People with Visual Impairments
This paper presents a comprehensive survey with 106 people with visual impairments (63 blind, 43 low vision; ages 8-77, mean 46; predominantly German) examining how they plan and carry out journeys to unknown buildings. Unlike previous studies that f…
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ThermalCane: Exploring Thermotactile Directional Cues on Cane-Grip for Non-Visual Navigation
This paper presents ThermalCane, a white-cane grip augmented with flexible Peltier thermoelectric modules that provide thermal directional cues for blind and visually impaired (BVI) navigation. While existing haptic navigation aids primarily use vibr…
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Understanding In-Situ Use of Commonly Available Navigation Technologies by People with Visual Impairments
This paper presents a qualitative study investigating how people with visual impairments use commonly available navigation technologies in their daily lives. Conducted by researchers at Microsoft Research and the University of Michigan, the study inv…
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"If you've gone straight, now, you must turn left" - Exploring the use of a tangible interface in a collaborative treasure hunt for people with visual impairments
This paper from a collaboration between IRIT (Toulouse), UNSW Sydney, EPFL, and Université Toulouse investigates how tangible user interfaces — specifically a small graspable robot called the Cellulo — can mediate collaboration between two people wit…
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Indoor Localization for Visually Impaired Travelers Using Computer Vision on a Smartphone
This paper presents a computer vision-based indoor localization system that runs as a real-time app on a conventional iPhone, designed to help blind and visually impaired travelers navigate indoor spaces where GPS is unavailable. The system combines …
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Investigating the Navigational Habits of People who are Blind in India
This paper presents a qualitative study of the navigational experiences of 14 people who are legally blind in the Bangalore metropolitan area of India, a low and middle income country (LMIC) where infrastructure conditions differ substantially from t…
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Lessons Learned from Designing, Deploying and Testing an Accessible BLE Beacon-based Wayfinding System in a Multi-Floor Indoor Environment
This paper documents the practical guidelines and design decisions involved in deploying a Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) beacon-based indoor wayfinding system in a three-story college campus building. The system builds on GuideBeacon, a previously devel…
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BentoMuseum: 3D and Layered Interactive Museum Map for Blind Visitors
This paper presents BentoMuseum, a novel 3D-printed interactive museum map system designed to help blind visitors independently explore and navigate museum spaces. The system addresses a significant gap in museum accessibility — while museums increas…
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Experiments with RouteNav, A Wayfinding App for Blind Travelers in a Transit Hub
This paper presents RouteNav, an iOS wayfinding app designed to help blind travelers navigate indoor/outdoor transit hubs without requiring any external infrastructure such as Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) beacons or Wi-Fi fingerprinting. The system ach…
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MABLESim: A Simulation Framework for Studying Accessibility Challenges for People with Disabilities within Indoor Environments
This paper introduces MABLESim (Mapping for Accessible BuiLt Environments Simulator), a Unity-based simulation framework designed to study how people with disabilities navigate indoor spaces. The authors address a fundamental research gap: while phys…