A Study of Tactile Guiding Lines to Assist Blind Pedestrians in Crossing

为帮助视障独立行人通过十字路口而开发的触觉引导线（TGLs）在日本得到了广泛应用。TGLs是一种放置在人行横道沥青路面上的触觉标记。在一项实验研究中，我们评估了安装在每个人行横道入口处的触觉标志，旨在帮助用户找到每个TGL的位置和方向。结果表明，触觉标志的存在提高了被试过马路的表现。然而，由于人行横道入口的触觉标志很小，所有的受试者都很难找到。为了降低难度，我们计划使用可听交通信号灯的声音。ATS扬声器通常安装在人行横道入口两侧的一根杆子上，杆子上有行人信号。在测试路口，我们将扬声器重新定位到触觉标志上方，以帮助用户更容易地找到标志。通过两个现场实验来评估说话人位置对被试寻找触觉符号的影响。结果表明，放置在触觉标志上方的扬声器有助于提高用户的表现。ATS扬声器的位置对于TGL安装指南的制定是非常重要的。

Tactile guiding lines (TGLs) developed to assist visually impaired independent pedestrians in crossing intersections, have come into widespread use in Japan. The TGLs are a kind of tactile marker placed on the asphalt pavement of a crosswalk. In an experimental study, we evaluated the tactile sign that is installed at the entrance to each crosswalk, designed to help users find the position and direction of each TGL. The results showed that the presence of the tactile sign improved the subjects' performance of crossing. However, all subjects had difficulties in finding the tactile sign at the entrance to the crosswalk because of its small size. As a means to reduce the difficulty, we planned to use the sound of an audible traffic signal (ATS). The ATS speaker is usually attached to a pole that holds the pedestrian signal and is located at either side of an entrance to the crosswalk. In the test intersection, we repositioned the speaker to above the tactile sign to help users find the sign more easily. Two field experiments were performed to evaluate the effects of speaker position on subjects' performance of finding the tactile sign. The results showed that the speaker placed above the tactile sign contributed to better user performance. The position of ATS speaker should be very important to development of the TGL installation guidelines.