Survey on Outdoor Navigation Applications for People with Visual Impairment

Outdoor navigation is a very challenging activity for People who suffer from Blindness or Visually Impairment (PBVI). Having examined the current literature, we conclude that there are very few publications providing a nuanced understanding of how PBVI undertake a journey in an outdoor environment and what their main challenges and obstacles are. To throw some light on this gap, we conducted a questionnaire in collaboration with the National Council for the Blind Ireland (NCBI) for 49 PBVI. Our questionnaire gathers information about key aspects related to PBVI outdoor navigation such as support tools/devices, hazards, journey preparation, crossing roads, and understanding the environment. We analyse the responses and present the main findings and potential solutions. Our analysis gives relevant insights into PBVI requirements and gaps in assistive navigation systems. According to the feedback of the participants, the current journey navigation apps do not provide enough information to the PBVI about key aspects of their journey planning. For example, apps generally lack information about traffic lights or crossroads.