Geospatial Guidance for Visually Impaired Users
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional geospatial guidance systems fail to effectively provide spatial context to sight-impaired users, as they typically rely on visual representations of geo-spatial coordinates, which do not adequately convey spatial relationships among points of interest (POIs), leading to inefficient navigation and route planning.
Innovation Solution
A method that determines a reference location within a selected geospatial area and presents POIs in relation to this reference, using distance and direction information, allowing users to understand spatial relationships through non-visual means such as audio or braille displays, enabling intuitive navigation and route planning without requiring fine motor skills or reliance on predetermined paths.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of information
If visual representations of geo-spatial coordinates are used, then spatial information can be displayed, but sight-impaired users cannot effectively perceive spatial relationships
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces visual display mechanisms with auditory and tactile feedback mechanisms. The system uses audio output to describe spatial relationships and braille display to provide tactile feedback about POI locations and directions, enabling sight-impaired users to perceive geospatial information through non-visual senses.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an intermediary processing layer that converts visual geospatial data into accessible formats. The system processes coordinate information and spatial relationships, then translates them into descriptive audio narratives and braille representations, acting as a mediator between the visual map data and the user's cognitive understanding.
2Loss of information
If conventional geospatial guidance systems are used, then location data can be provided, but spatial relationships among POIs are not adequately conveyed
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the geospatial information into distinct components: reference location, points of interest, distances, and directions. Each component is processed and presented separately through audio and braille outputs, allowing users to mentally construct spatial relationships from discrete information elements rather than overwhelming continuous data.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent transforms geospatial parameters from abstract coordinates into meaningful relative measurements. Instead of presenting raw coordinate data, the system calculates and presents distances and directions relative to a reference location, changing the parameter representation to enhance spatial comprehension for sight-impaired users.
3Measurement precision
If detailed geospatial information is provided to sight-impaired users, then navigation accuracy can be improved, but the information becomes difficult to process without visual context
Solution Approach 1:
The patent inverts the traditional approach by not asking users to interpret visual maps, but rather by providing verbally described spatial relationships that directly convey navigation information. Instead of users translating visual data, the system translates spatial relationships into naturally descriptive audio and braille formats that are inherently easier to process.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent enables users to independently process and understand geospatial information through well-structured audio descriptions and braille displays. The information is presented in a self-explanatory format with clear spatial references and relationships, allowing users to mentally map their environment without requiring visual assistance or complex interpretation skills.
Data Source
AI summary
A method of geospatial guidance for sight impaired users includes receiving, by a computer system, a user selection of a geospatial area. The computer system further receives a user selection of a point of interest criteria. The method includes finding, by the computer system, in a database that includes geospatial points of interest, those geospatial points of interest that match the user selected criteria and that are in the user selected geospatial area. The computer system determines a reference location in the user selected geospatial area and distance and direction from each of the found points of interest to the reference location. The computer system presents sets of information, to the user, wherein each set includes a description of one of the found points of interest together with distance and direction between the reference location and the one of the found points of interest.