Factors Influencing the Need of Guide Dogs for the Visually Impaired

2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 167-171
Author(s):  
Young-soo Kim ◽  
Dong-kyoung Youn ◽  
Wonseok Jang ◽  
Seungtae Yoon ◽  
Hongjik Lee
Keyword(s):  
Visually Impaired ◽  
Guide Dogs ◽  
Factors Influencing

scholarly journals Spatial orientation and cognitive load as factors influencing learning amongst blind learners in the Life Sciences

2012 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mbulaheni O. Maguvhe ◽  
Msongelwa J. Gumede ◽  
William J. Fraser ◽  
Henoch Schoeman
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Load ◽  
Spatial Orientation ◽  
Visually Impaired ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Life Sciences ◽  
Secondary Analysis ◽  
Blind And Visually Impaired ◽  
Factors Influencing ◽  
Tactile Stimuli ◽  
Auditory Functions

Little research is done in South Africa on factors influencing cognitive load during teaching and learning. It challenges our social accountability towards learners with special education needs as the principles of equity and equality are not always achieved in this field of specialisation. This article reports on a secondary analysis conducted on the results of two recent investigations by Maguvhe (2005) and Gumede (2010) that focused on the teaching of Life Sciences to blind and visually impaired learners. The purpose of the secondary analysis was to determine from the original results how the principles of cognitive load, modality and spatial orientation are accounted for when Life Sciences is taught to blind and visually impaired learners. The secondary analysis confirmed that blind learners very seldom participate in investigations, experiments and activities, and when they do, such interactions remain basic, elementary and confirmatory. Because teaching occurs mainly by means of narratives, the possibilities remain high that cognitive load might decrease the auditory functions in the absence of other visual and tactile stimuli. Tactile stimulation depends heavily on factors such as specialised resources, well-trained teachers, Braille trainers, readers and writers, and a sound understanding of a holistic methodology that can optimise the tactile senses of blind and visually impaired learners.

Design of a Novel Electronic Travel Aid to Assist Visually Impaired Individuals Navigate Their Environment

2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Morrison ◽  
Thomas Lord ◽  
Emily Esko ◽  
Lauren Gillmeister ◽  
Christine Kazlauskas ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Visually Impaired ◽  
Sensory Information ◽  
Complex Environments ◽  
Major Goal ◽  
Sensory Representation ◽  
Guide Dogs ◽  
Surrounding Environment ◽  
Novel Method ◽  
White Cane ◽  
Stationary Obstacles

Worldwide there are over 160 million people with severe visual impairment, as defined by visual acuity poorer than 20/200.1 A prominent concern for visually impaired individuals is their limited navigational abilities due to insufficient sensory information about their surrounding environment which results in difficulty with navigating new or complex environments. In these situations, they often have to rely on the assistance of others to help them reach their destination. Furthermore, even when the visually impaired individuals are familiar with the area, they are not always aware of non-stationary obstacles, such as cars or people. Two commonly used solutions currently available to help visually impaired individuals navigate their surroundings are the white cane and guide dogs. The white cane is useful for alerting its users to obstacles closer than 1.5 m, but it does not provide any information about the environment beyond that scope. Guide dogs are in unfortunately limited supply and can cost upwards of $42,000 to train.2 To address this challenge, multiple groups have examined more technologically advanced solutions to help visually impaired individuals. However, these devices have some major limitations, such as complicated display modalities and non-intuitive sensory representation of environmental information. The major goal of this proposal is to develop a new electronic travel aid (ETA) that will help visually impaired individuals navigate their environment more easily by using a novel method of directly displaying the location of obstacles up to 4 m away on the user’s torso with a grid of small vibrational devices called tactors. This device is intended to be used with a traditional white cane that can detect objects very close to the user and terrain changes, such as a step in a stairwell.

An inconspicuous, integrated electronic travel aid for visual impairment

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-9
Author(s):  
Alain Boldini ◽  
Andy L. Garcia ◽  
Marc Sorrentino ◽  
Mahya Beheshti ◽  
Okpe Ogedegbe ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Visual Impairment ◽  
Visually Impaired ◽  
Obstacle Detection ◽  
Electroactive Materials ◽  
Guide Dogs ◽  
White Cane ◽  
Strong Deterrent ◽  
Critical Aspects

Abstract With a globally aging population, visual impairment is an increasingly pressing problem for our society. This form of disability drastically reduces the quality of life and constitutes a large cost to the health care system. Mobility of the visually impaired is one of the most critical aspects affected by this disability, and yet it relies on low-tech solutions, such as the white cane and guide dogs. However, many avoid solutions entirely. In part, reluctance to use these solutions may be explained by their obtrusiveness, which is also a strong deterrent for the adoption of many new devices. In this paper, we leverage new advancements in artificial intelligence, sensor systems, and soft electroactive materials toward an electronic travel aid with an obstacle detection and avoidance system for the visually impaired. The travel aid incorporates a stereoscopic camera platform, enabling computer vision, and a wearable haptic device that can stimulate discrete locations on the user's abdomen to signal the presence of surrounding obstacles. The proposed technology could be integrated into commercial backpacks and support belts, thereby guaranteeing a discreet and unobtrusive solution.

scholarly journals Understanding the Factors Influencing the Leisure Tourism Behavior of Visually Impaired Travelers: An Empirical Study in China

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guanghui Qiao ◽  
Junmiao Zhang ◽  
Anja Pabel ◽  
Nan Chen
Keyword(s):  
Psychological Factors ◽  
Visually Impaired ◽  
Community Support ◽  
Economic Factors ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Factors Influencing ◽  
Visually Impaired People ◽  
Main Factors ◽  
Socio Economic Factors ◽  
Real World Problems

This study looks at the real-world problems which vision impaired individuals face when they travel. More specifically, this study aims to explore the main factors influencing the leisure tourism behavior of visually impaired individuals. Based on in-depth semi-structured interviews with 26 visually impaired respondents, this study identifies six main factors impacting on the leisure tourism behavior of visually impaired individuals including: tourism products and services, personal psychological factors, social support, community support, personal socio-economic factors, and barrier-free environments. Findings show that visually impaired travelers have strong requirements for auditory, tactile, and physical participation. Support factors such as travel companions/escorts, tour organizers specifically targeting their experiential offerings at the visually impaired, and an accessible environment are important considerations for visually impaired travelers. Findings also show that visually impaired individuals participate in leisure tourism to enhance their own abilities, relieve pressures on their families, break stereotypes associated with the visually impaired, and promote the need for greater tourism development specifically targeting visually impaired travelers. This study also proposes a theoretical model outlining the factors influencing leisure tourism of visually impaired people.

A Conceptual Stress-Coping Model of Factors Influencing Marketplace Engagement of Visually Impaired Consumers

2012 ◽  
Vol 46 (3) ◽  
pp. 485-505 ◽  
Author(s):  
GEORGE BALABANIS ◽  
VINCENT WAYNE MITCHELL ◽  
IAN BRUCE ◽  
PETRA RIEFLER
Keyword(s):  
Visually Impaired ◽  
Stress Coping ◽  
Factors Influencing ◽  
Coping Model

Factors influencing the process of learning mathematics among visually impaired and blind people

2019 ◽  
Vol 104 ◽  
pp. 1-9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dominik Spinczyk ◽  
Michał Maćkowski ◽  
Wojciech Kempa ◽  
Katarzyna Rojewska
Keyword(s):  
Visually Impaired ◽  
Blind People ◽  
Factors Influencing ◽  
Learning Mathematics

scholarly journals On the way: Technique, movement and rhythm in the training of guide dogs

2019 ◽  
Vol 16 ◽  
Author(s):  
Olivia von der Weid
Keyword(s):  
Phase I ◽  
Assistive Technology ◽  
Visually Impaired ◽  
Training Phase ◽  
Guide Dogs ◽  
Impaired Person ◽  
The Way

Abstract In the article I present an ethnographic reflection on the process of guide dogs generation, an animal assistive technology developed to facilitate the mobility of the visually impaired person. Focusing especially on the training phase, I try to understand the trajectory of transformations, the unfolding of events and the changes of movement that make certain dogs able to "graduate" as guides. Following a Maussian perspective, the guiding technique is understood here as the result of a certain relationship between movements and things, encompassing tools, human and canine bodies and their displacements in different environments.

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