Identifying sound cues of the outdoor environment by blind people to represent landmarks on audio-tactile maps

Abstract

Blind people often rely on sound cues to gather information about their surrounding whenever they are in an environment. Various sound cues produced by events encourage blind people to identify the source that produces the sound. Having the skill in identifying sound cues could facilitate blind people in wayfinding and increase their awareness of the environment. As the literature suggests, there are 2 dimensions (object and action) that are considered crucial when evaluating the identifiability of sound cues. We therefore conducted a study with blind participants at Malaysian Association for the Blind (MAB) to investigate their ability in identifying sound cues that represent landmarks of an outdoor environment. The objective of this study was to examine which sound cues that were suitable to represent landmarks in the outdoor environment based on the correct identification by the participants according to the 2 dimensions as mentioned above. The findings of this study showed that not all sound cues used in the evaluation could be correctly identified by the blind participants. Lack of auditory skills and dependent on peers when travelling in the outdoor environment were among the factors that contributed to the inability of some blind participants to identify the sound cues. However, blind participants who have exposure to the outdoor environment were able to identify majority of the sound cues correctly. As for the next phase, the sound cues that obtained high scores based on the object and action in the study; will be incorporated on audio-tactile maps for map exploration. This paper also concludes by discussing some recommendations on how to improve the use of sound cues according to blind people preferences.