Maps as a service: A systematic approach to the production of tactile and audio/vibrational maps for visually impaired users

项目摘要 对于盲人来说，移动性、方向感和空间意识可能是一个挑战。导航新的或不熟悉的 没有视觉的环境可能会令人困惑和紧张，并且可能是危险的。因此， 据报道，至少有30%的盲人不会独自出门旅行。 对于有视力和失明的旅行者来说，地图是一种有价值的空间认知工具。可以制作地图 盲人用户可以使用触觉格式或多模态振动/音频地图（由co-I开创的格式 朱棣，本身就是个盲人）。研究表明，当有机会探索一个可访问的 提前绘制地图（旅行前学习），盲人旅行者可以获得更好的位置空间意识，这可能 帮助保持方向和确定新路线。 触觉地图传统上是由专业人士创建的，通常遵循“行业技巧”并使用非标准化的 符号.最近，已经推动了触觉地图创建的系统化方法， 更宽的扩散和一致的空间符号渲染。在线服务（例如，TMAPS）已经创建，允许 任何人都可以指定要映射的某个区域，并为该区域自动生成触觉地图， 来源于开放获取地理信息系统。 然而，用于按需地图创建的现有系统只能映射室外区域。没有这样的服务， 室内建筑，事实上，很少有研究工作已经解决了触觉室内地图的系统化生产。 室内环境通常比典型的城市布局结构更少。在建筑物中移动可能需要 多尺度的空间知识（从一般建筑结构到房间的内部布局）。而且不像 广泛使用的GIS数据集，以适合触觉地图创建的格式获得详细的平面图， 挑战性 在这个应用程序中，我们提出的研究和发展的重点是一个系统的半自动创建 室内环境的无障碍地图（触觉和振动/音频格式）。这项工作将源于先前的网络 一个应用程序（SIM，由PI Manduchi的团队开发），允许任何人跟踪现有的平面图，以生成一个 可折叠地图。我们的研究活动将围绕以下具体目标组织：促进收购 平面图的“矢量化”（目标1）;矢量化地图的自动转换（以空间表示） 基元）以任何所需比例尺绘制成可访问的地图，通过制图综合运算符， 设计的符号集（目标2）;盲人受试者的用户研究，旨在评估地图的有效性 由我们的新SIM系统（目标3）产生;将新的SIM网络应用程序技术转移给我们的合作机构， 帕洛阿尔托的Vista盲人中心，该中心将向感兴趣的利益攸关方提供服务。

Project Summary Mobility, orientation, and spatial awareness can be challenging for people who are blind. Navigating new or unfamiliar environments without sight can be confusing and stressful, and potentially dangerous. As a consequence, it has been reported that at least 30% of blind individuals do not make independent trips outside of their home. For sighted and blind travelers alike, maps represent a valuable tool for spatial cognition. Maps can be made accessible to blind users using tactile format, or as multimodal vibrational/audio maps (a format pioneered by co-I Giudice, himself a blind individual). Research has shown that, when given the opportunity to explore an accessible map beforehand (pre-journey learning), blind travelers may achieve better spatial awareness of locations, which may help with maintaining orientation and determining new routes. Tactile maps are traditionally created by professionals, often following “tricks of the trade” and using non-standardized symbols. Recently, there has been a push towards systematic approaches to tactile map creation that would enable wider diffusion and consistent spatial symbols rendering. Online services (e.g., TMAPS) have been created, that allow anyone to specify a certain region to be mapped, and have a tactile map automatically generated for that region, sourcing from an open access geographical information system. Existing systems for on-demand map creation, however, can only map outdoor areas. There is no such service for building indoors, and in fact, very little research work has addressed the systematic production of tactile indoor maps. Indoor environments are generally less structured than typical urban layouts. Moving about in a building may require spatial knowledge at multiple scales (from the general building structure to the internal layout of a room). And, unlike widely available GIS data sets, obtaining detailed floor plans in a format amenable for tactile map creation can be challenging. In this application, we propose research and development focusing on a system for the semi-automatic creation of accessible maps (in tactile and vibrational/audio format) of indoor environments. This work will stem from a prior web application (SIM, developed by PI Manduchi’s team) that allows anyone to trace an existing floor plan to generate an embossable map. Our research activities will be organized around the following Specific Aims: Facilitating acquisition and “vectorization” of floor plans (Aim 1); Automatic conversion of a vectorized map (expressed in terms of spatial primitives) to an accessible map at any desired scale, by means of cartographic generalization operators and carefully designed symbol sets (Aim 2); User studies with blind subjects, designed to evaluate the effectiveness of the maps produced by our new SIM system (Aim 3); Transferring the new SIM web app technology to our partner institution, the Vista Center for the Blind of Palo Alto, which will make it available as a service to interested stakeholders.