The Cane Game: An Educational Tool for Orientation and Mobility

Abstract

Proficiency in Orientation and Mobility (O&M) is vital for people who are blind or visually impaired (BVI) to access physical environments and economic opportunities. While much engineering effort has focused on using technology to augment the practice of using a mobility cane, there is comparatively little work on using technology in service of teaching the use of the cane itself. We report a case study of a multi-year collaboration between assistive technology researchers and a certified O&M instructor at Perkins School for the Blind to utilize technology to create O&M teaching tools that use the concept of gamification to make such training more fun and effective. In this collaboration we adopted an action research approach, and through the application of action research HCI methods created several prototype systems for teaching O&M skills. These prototypes were refined to create the Cane Game: a system for teaching students cane sweeping technique using interactive music and sound. The Cane Game system can be constructed for less than $100 and is capable of being distributed at large-scale. A qualitative study of Perkins School for the Blind students' O&M educational trajectories while using the system illuminates the conditions in which this tool is effective as a teaching aid.