Palm Drawing

A technique used by Orientation and Mobility (O&M) specialists to teach routes to people who are blind or have low vision. The instructor holds the person's palm face up and traces the path of a route with their finger while simultaneously providing verbal instructions. This multimodal approach combines tactile spatial information with auditory description, helping the learner build a mental map of the route before traveling it. The technique leverages proprioceptive awareness — the person can feel the direction of turns, relative distances, and overall route shape through their palm. Palm Drawing has inspired research into robotic and haptic navigation systems, though direct robotic replication has proven difficult due to the fine motor precision required.