Reviews

Search results

• Resilience to Disruption: Accessible Navigation for People with Visual Impairment

  Trevor Cross, Ishani Pandey, Sophia S Jit, Robert Soden, Priyank Chandra · 2026 · Proceedings of the 2026 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI '26)

  This paper investigates how people with visual impairments (PwVI) actually navigate urban environments, especially during severe weather events such as snowstorms, high winds, and icy conditions, and how digital navigation technologies do or do not support those practices. The…

  blind and low vision · navigation · wayfinding · orientation and mobility · crisis informatics

• SceneScout: Towards AI-Driven Access to Street Level Imagery for Blind Users

  Gaurav Jain, Leah Findlater, Cole Gleason · 2026 · Proceedings of the 2026 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI '26)

  Jain, Findlater and Gleason present SceneScout, a prototype web interface that uses a multimodal large language model (GPT-4o) to make street level imagery — the panoramic pedestrian-height photography behind Apple Maps Look Around and Google Street View — directly usable by…

  accessibility · navigation · screen readers · AI · multimodal AI

• From Selfie Stick to Virtual Cane: Enabling Blind Exploration through Mobile Virtual Reality

  Hao Tang, Hong Zhao, Xinpeng Liu, Zhenchao Xia, William Seiple, Zhigang Zhu · 2026 · Proceedings of the 2026 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI '26)

  Consumer VR is a visual-first medium, which in practice shuts out blind and low-vision (BLV) users. Tang and colleagues argue that existing accessible VR systems do help BLV users explore virtual environments (VEs), but they depend on head-mounted displays, external tracking…

  blind and low vision · virtual reality · mobile accessibility · orientation and mobility · white cane

• Get In Touch with Your Seat: Accessible Seat Localization for Blind and Low Vision Travelers in Autonomous Shuttles

  Paul D. S. Fink, Justin R. Brown, Raina M. Movalia, Kyle J. James, Margaret E. Kastelein, Jacob Bond, Morgan E. Andrulis, Nicholas A. Giudice · 2026 · Extended Abstracts of the 2026 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI EA '26)

  Fink, Brown, Movalia, and colleagues (University of Maine VEMI Lab, Grand Valley State University, and General Motors Global Research and Development) tackle a segment of the autonomous-vehicle accessibility problem that has received little attention: helping a blind or…

  autonomous vehicles · blind and low vision · transportation accessibility · haptics · spatial audio

• Investigating the Role of Agentic AI in Facilitating Travel Planning for People with Low Vision

  Ranran Ding, Maryam Bandukda · 2026 · Extended Abstracts of the 2026 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI EA ’26)

  This CHI 2026 Extended Abstract examines a stage of accessible travel that most assistive-technology research has overlooked: the pre-trip planning work people with low vision (PLV) do before ever leaving the house. The authors argue that most existing tools — navigation apps,…

  low vision · wayfinding · agentic AI · large language models · conversational agents

• Check Now, Can You See It?: Exploring Voice and Video-Capable Language Models for Identifying and Spatially Locating Items of Interest for Blind and Low-Vision Travelers

  Aziz N Zeidieh, JooYoung Seo · 2025 · ASSETS 2025: 27th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility

  This experience report documents the lived experiences of two blind travelers — Aziz (28, blind in left eye, 20/2200 in right) and JooYoung (35, blind in right eye, limited vision in left) — as they adapted commercially available voice and video-capable language models (VVLMs)…

  artificial intelligence · navigation · blindness and visual impairment · multimodal AI · large language models

• How Can Haptic Feedback Assist People with Blind and Low Vision (BLV): A Systematic Literature Review

  Chutian Jiang, Emily Kuang, Mingming Fan · 2025 · ACM Transactions on Accessible Computing

  This comprehensive systematic literature review examines 20 years (2004–2024) of research on haptic assistive tools for people who are blind or have low vision (BLV), analyzing 132 papers from 11 major HCI venues including CHI, ASSETS, UIST, and IEEE Haptics. The review…

  haptic feedback · blind and low vision · assistive technology · systematic review · tactile graphics

• "Seven Stitches Later": A Technologically Interdependent Travel Experience From The Perspective Of A Visually Impaired Individual

  Aziz N Zeidieh · 2024 · ASSETS '24: Proceedings of the 26th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility

  This autoethnographic experience report presents a technologically interdependent travel framework developed from over ten years of first-hand travel experience by the author, a visually impaired individual. The paper's title references a real injury — seven stitches from…

  visual impairment · travel · navigation · orientation and mobility · autoethnography

• Enhancing Walk-Light Detector Usage for the Visually Impaired: A Comparison of VR Exploration and Verbal Instructions

  Jonggi Hong, James Coughlan · 2024 · Proceedings of the 21st International Web for All Conference (W4A '24)

  This paper from Stevens Institute of Technology and Smith-Kettlewell Eye Research Institute compares two methods for teaching people with visual impairments (PVI) to use a walk-light detector smartphone app at traffic intersections: virtual reality (VR) exploration versus…

  blindness · virtual reality · navigation · camera aiming · pedestrian safety

• An Investigation of the Experiences of Orientation and Mobility Trainers in India

  Rohit Asave, Ravi Kuber, Foad Hamidi · 2024 · Proceedings of the 21st International Web for All Conference (W4A)

  This qualitative study examines the experiences of twelve orientation and mobility (O&M) trainers working across urban and rural settings in India, a low- and middle-income country (LMIC) where infrastructure, resources, and cultural attitudes toward disability differ markedly…

  orientation and mobility · visual impairment · Global South accessibility · training · blindness

• All the Way There and Back: Inertial-Based, Phone-in-Pocket Indoor Wayfinding and Backtracking Apps for Blind Travelers

  Chia Hsuan Tsai, Fatemeh Elyasi, Peng Ren, Roberto Manduchi · 2024 · ACM Transactions on Accessible Computing

  This paper presents two iOS apps designed to help blind travelers navigate indoor building environments without requiring external infrastructure like Bluetooth beacons or visual markers. The Wayfinding app uses a known floor plan to compute and guide users along the shortest…

  indoor navigation · wayfinding · blind and low vision · inertial sensors · dead reckoning

• Snap&Nav: Smartphone-based Indoor Navigation System For Blind People via Floor Map Analysis and Intersection Detection

  Masaya Kubota, Masaki Kuribayashi, Seita Kayukawa, Hironobu Takagi, Chieko Asakawa, Shigeo Morishima · 2024 · Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction (MobileHCI)

  Snap&Nav is a smartphone-based indoor navigation system for blind travellers that works in any building with a visible floor map, without requiring the building owner to pre-build a digital map, install BLE beacons, or deploy any other localisation infrastructure. The authors…

  blindness and low vision · indoor navigation · wayfinding · map-less navigation · intersection detection

• ChitChatGuide: Conversational Interaction Using Large Language Models for Assisting People with Visual Impairments to Explore a Shopping Mall

  Yuka Kaniwa, Masaki Kuribayashi, Seita Kayukawa, Daisuke Sato, Hironobu Takagi, Chieko Asakawa, Shigeo Morishima · 2024 · Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction (MobileHCI)

  ChitChatGuide is a smartphone-based indoor navigation system that wraps a GPT-4-powered conversational interface around an existing BLE-beacon localisation stack (HULOP) to support something most blind-navigation research overlooks: casual, purpose-less exploration — the blind…

  blindness and low vision · large language model · indoor navigation · wayfinding · conversational agent

• On the independent and sustainable mobility of people with visual impairments

  Gabriele Galimberti · 2023 · Proceedings of the 20th International Web for All Conference (W4A '23)

  This doctoral consortium extended abstract outlines a research project investigating the factors that enable or hinder independent mobility for people with blindness or visual impairments (BVI), with a particular focus on the link between mobility autonomy and environmental…

  visual impairment · blind and low vision · independent living · public transportation · navigation

• Experimental Evaluation of Multi-scale Tactile Maps Created with SIM, a Web App for Indoor Map Authoring

  Viet Trinh, Roberto Manduchi, Nicholas A. Giudice · 2023 · ACM Transactions on Accessible Computing

  This paper introduces Semantic Interior Mapology (SIM), a web application that democratizes tactile map creation by allowing anyone to trace a floor plan image and automatically generate embossable tactile maps at multiple scales. Unlike outdoor environments where services like…

  tactile maps · indoor navigation · blindness · spatial learning · orientation and mobility

• PathFinder: Designing a Map-less Navigation System for Blind People in Unfamiliar Buildings

  Masaki Kuribayashi, Tatsuya Ishihara, Daisuke Sato, Jayakorn Vongkulbhisal, Karnik Ram, Seita Kayukawa, Hironobu Takagi, Shigeo Morishima, Chieko Asakawa · 2023 · Proceedings of the 2023 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems

  Map-based indoor navigation systems for blind travellers (CaBot, NavCog, BLE-beacon apps) work well when a prebuilt map exists, but building and maintaining those maps is labour-intensive and has only been done for a tiny fraction of the world's buildings. Engel et al. reported…

  map-less navigation · blind navigation · indoor navigation · intersection detection · sign recognition

• Route Descriptions, Spatial Knowledge and Spatial Representations of Blind and Partially Sighted People: Improved Design of Electronic Travel Aids

  Marion Hersh, Alasdair Ramirez Garcia · 2022 · ACM Transactions on Accessible Computing

  This paper presents a qualitative study investigating how blind and partially sighted people acquire spatial knowledge, form mental maps, and describe routes—with the goal of informing better design of electronic travel aids (ETAs). The researchers worked with nine participants…

  electronic travel aids · blind navigation · mental maps · orientation and mobility · wayfinding

• Beyond the Cane: Describing Urban Scenes to Blind People for Mobility Tasks

  Karin M. P. Hoogsteen, Florian Mathis, Garreth W. Tigwell, Alastair R. Beresford, Mohamed Khamis · 2022 · ACM Transactions on Accessible Computing

  This research investigates what environmental information is most useful for blind pedestrians navigating urban spaces, moving beyond obstacle-avoidance to understand comprehensive scene description needs. The authors conducted two experiments with 13 cane-using blind…

  blindness · mobility · orientation and mobility · navigation · scene description

• Tactile Materials in Practice: Understanding the Experiences of Teachers of the Visually Impaired

  Mahika Phutane, Julie Wright, Brenda Veronica Castro, Lei Shi, Simone R. Stern, Holly M. Lawson, Shiri Azenkot · 2022 · ACM Transactions on Accessible Computing

  This research investigates how Teachers of the Visually Impaired (TVIs) create, acquire, and use tactile materials—tactile graphics, 3D models, and real objects—in their educational practice. Despite growing research interest in tactile material creation technologies, there has…

  visual impairment · blindness · tactile graphics · 3D models · education

• Corridor-Walker: Mobile Indoor Walking Assistance for Blind People to Avoid Obstacles and Recognize Intersections

  Masaki Kuribayashi, Seita Kayukawa, Jayakorn Vongkulbhisal, Chieko Asakawa, Daisuke Sato, Hironobu Takagi, Shigeo Morishima · 2022 · Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction (Proc. ACM Hum.-Comput. Interact., Vol. 6, MHCI, Article 179)

  Walking an indoor corridor independently is deceptively hard for a blind traveller. Two problems compound: avoiding obstacles stacked against the wall (the same wall the traveller uses as a tactile guide) and recognising when an intersection has arrived and which directions it…

  indoor navigation · blind navigation · obstacle avoidance · intersection detection · LiDAR

• Opportunities for Supporting Self-efficacy Through Orientation & Mobility Training Technologies for Blind and Partially Sighted People

  Maryam Bandukda, Catherine Holloway, Aneesha Singh, Giulia Barbareschi, Nadia Berthouze · 2021 · Proceedings of the 23rd International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS)

  This paper examines how orientation and mobility (O&M) training shapes the self-efficacy beliefs of blind and partially sighted (BPS) people and identifies opportunities for technology to better support O&M training. The researchers conducted semi-structured interviews with 20…

  orientation and mobility · blind and low vision · self-efficacy · assistive technology · navigation

• Investigating the Navigational Habits of People who are Blind in India

  Anirudh Nagraj, Ravi Kuber, Foad Hamidi, Raghavendra SG Prasad · 2021 · The 23rd International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2021)

  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 the high income countries…

  visual impairments · blindness · navigation · wayfinding · assistive technology

• Iterative Design of Sonification Techniques to Support People with Visual Impairments in Obstacle Avoidance

  Giorgio Presti, Dragan Ahmetovic, Mattia Ducci, Cristian Bernareggi, Luca A. Ludovico, Adriano Baratè, Federico Avanzini, Sergio Mascetti · 2021 · ACM Transactions on Accessible Computing

  This paper presents WatchOut, a sonification system that conveys real-time obstacle information to blind or visually impaired (BVI) people through non-verbal audio cues. While white canes detect obstacles only within about 1 meter and miss elevated hazards, computer vision on…

  visual impairment · blindness · sonification · obstacle avoidance · orientation and mobility

• LineChaser: A Smartphone-Based Navigation System for Blind People to Stand in Lines

  Masaki Kuribayashi, Seita Kayukawa, Hironobu Takagi, Chieko Asakawa, Shigeo Morishima · 2021 · Proceedings of the 2021 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems

  Standing in line is a mundane-looking task — at a cashier, bus stop, or airport check-in — but for a blind person it is a brittle, anxiety-ridden sequence: find where the line currently ends (a position that moves), join it without bumping into anyone, and then shuffle forward…

  line detection · pedestrian detection · orientation and mobility · visual impairment · indoor navigation

• Smooth Sailing? Autoethnography of Recreational Travel by a Blind Person

  Kate Stephens, Matthew Butler, Leona M Holloway, Cagatay Goncu, Kim Marriott · 2020 · ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS)

  This paper presents the first autoethnographic study of a blind traveller, documenting Kate Stephens' (the first author) experience planning and undertaking a 28-day cruise around Australia with her vision-impaired husband. Kate, a 63-year-old who has been blind all her life, is…

  visual impairments · travel · autoethnography · orientation and mobility · tactile maps