Browsing by Subject "Wayfinding"
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Item Finding A Way: Aids To Support Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)(2017-05) WILLIAMS, JULIEAutism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a developmental disorder affecting around 1:68 children. Among other characteristics, children with ASD can be unduly sensitive to the elements in the environment, such as noise or light. Those affected have also described childhood difficulties finding their way around school. Despite the increasing numbers of children diagnosed with ASD, to date there has been little evidence-based research investigating how the environment affects them. The purpose of this exploratory experimental study was to determine whether wayfinding aids, (colored doors, colored shapes on the floor, and signage), applied in an elementary school corridor could help children with ASD find their way to a given destination with minimal assistance. This could improve their wayfinding skills and promote independence. Person-environment Fit Theory guided the research. This states that if a person is well-matched to their environment it can have a positive effect on them. A convenience sample of participants with ASD aged 8-11 (n=9) were randomly assigned to control or treatment groups. A study route was set up along part of the school corridor unfamiliar to participants. Each participant was given wayfinding instruction and shown the way to a destination before being asked to find the way on his/her own. Participants in the control group used existing cues in the environment. Participants in the treatment group used wayfinding aids applied along the route. A mixed methods approach to data collection included observation, behavioral mapping, and a post-study interview/questionnaire to find out what participants felt about their wayfinding experience and what they remembered about the route. The study found that all participants were able to find their way to the destination. This suggests that wayfinding could be used as an educational intervention to teach children with ASD how to find their way around school. Participants in the treatment group remembered more colors, shapes, and signs along the route compared to the control group. Some participants demonstrated a hypersensitivity to the environment, adversely affected by noise, light, and smell. Some participants demonstrated Weak Central Coherence, focusing on small details to help them find their way around rather than perceiving the larger environment. With further testing, it may be possible for clinicians who treat children with ASD to use wayfinding as a diagnostic tool to help them find out how children with ASD perceive their environment and what they are sensitive to in it. This is believed to be the first research study to test children with ASD in wayfinding. By documenting an evidence-based research process with children with ASD as participants, this study could act as a model for other designers and researchers to follow. It could also be replicated to determine whether the results are applicable to wayfinding in other school corridors, or other environments, used by children with ASD.Item An Integrated Assistive System to Support Wayfinding and Situation Awareness for People with Vision Impairment(2016-05) Liao, Chen-FuPeople with vision impairment usually use a white cane as their primary tool for wayfinding and obstacle detection. Environmental cues, though not always reliable, are used to support the decision making of the visually impaired at various levels of navigation and situation awareness. Due to differences in spatial perception as compared to sighted people, they often encounter physical as well as information barriers along a trip. In order to improve their mobility, accessibility and level of confidence in using our transportation system, it is important to remove not only the physical barriers but also the information barriers that could potentially impede their mobility and undermine safety. Many assistive systems have been developed in the past for visually impaired users to navigate and find their way. However, most of these systems were not adopted by users mostly due to the inconvenience of using such systems. In this research, we developed a mobile accessible information system that allows people with vision impairment to receive transportation information at key locations where decision making is necessary. A smartphone-based personal assistive system, called MAPS (Mobile Accessible Pedestrian System), was developed to provide intersection geometry and signal timing information, not available from other apps in the market for people with vision impairment. In addition, the MAPS incorporates a geospatial database with Bluetooth beacon information that allows the MAPS to provide navigation assistance, situation awareness, and wayfinding to users even when a GPS solution is not available. The MAPS app communicates with the traffic signal controller through a secured wireless link to obtain real-time Signal Phasing and Timing (SPaT) information, which together then inform visually impaired pedestrians with their current locations and when to cross streets. A self-monitoring infrastructure using a network of Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) beacons was developed to ensure the information integrity of the network. The key contributions of this dissertation include the development of: • A smartphone-based navigation and decision support system that incorporates intersection geometry and traffic signal information for people with vision impairment, • A simple user’s interface (using a single or double-tap on a smartphone screen) that is easy for the visually impaired to learn and use, • Standardized message elements for an audible work zone bypass routing information system, • A self-monitoring infrastructure using a network of commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) low-cost BLE beacons, (including customized firmware allowing BLE beacons to monitor each other), • A crowdsourcing approach using users’ smartphones to monitor the status of BLE beacons and update messages associated with beacons, • A cloud-based geospatial database to support navigation by incorporating BLE beacon localization information when a GPS solution is not available, • A Singular Value Decomposition (SVD) based Multivariable Regression (MR) algorithm together with an Extended Kalman Filter (EKF) technique using beacon localization to provide a positioning solution by the smartphone even if a GPS solution is unavailable, and • Statistical methodologies and wireless signal fingerprinting techniques to monitor BLE beacons in a network in order to determine when a beacon is moved, removed or disappears. The intent of the MAPS is not to undermine the maintenance of skills and strategies that people with vision impairment have learned for navigation and wayfinding. Instead, the system aims to support their wayfinding capability, extend mobility and accessibility, and improve safety for the blind and visually impaired. This self-monitoring infrastructure ensures that correct information is provided to users at the right location when needed. This thesis also introduces the idea of using the same system to warn sighted pedestrians about approaching an intersection when they are distracted by looking at their smartphone.Item Wayfinding For Pedestrians In The Crowded Areas Of Al-Hajj: How Can Wayfinding System Designs Increase The Efficiency Of Wayfinding And Navigation Performances For Pedestrian Pilgrims During The Islamic Pilgrimage (Al-Hajj)(2020-04) Alkharoubi, AmerOver the years, the lack of a thoughtful and educated wayfinding system design in the areas of Al-Hajj has caused an epidemic of adverse incidents. One of the reasons for this is that the current wayfinding system design does not support the vast diversity of this multicultural event, which includes a large number of people with different backgrounds and ethnicities. The primary goal of this study is to develop a new proposed wayfinding system that will help in increasing pilgrims’ performances and wayfinding experiences during the period of Al-Hajj. This goal is accomplished by examining the efficiency and design of the current wayfinding system and the new proposed wayfinding system according to design theories and guidelines, and users’ preferences and recommendations. The examination process started with a thorough analysis based on an extensive study of literature on design, wayfinding, and design theories and guidelines for both systems. Next, both designs are examined through two mixed-method approaches that included a series of qualitative and quantitative questions in the form of in-depth personal interviews and an online survey. The personal interviews involved six individuals who had experiences in performing Al-Hajj before, some of whom performed Al-Hajj more than 18 times, whereas the online survey targeted a more comprehensive and diverse group of participants, which resulted in 209 valid entries. For each approach, both qualitative and quantitative questions are designed with specific rubrics that help in highlighting the strengths and weaknesses of each system. The qualitative questions are intended to collect user viewpoints, ideas, remarks, and recommendations concerning both systems. The answers gathered from this method are thoroughly analyzed to extract as many beneficial inputs as possible that will support the topic of the research. On the other hand, the quantitative questions are intended to assist in collecting user preferences concerning design decisions and implementations, choises of language, iconography, typefaces, colors, and other design elements. The data gathered is categorized based on the participants’ completion of the survey questions, their experiences of performing Al-Hajj, and their gender. Then, a test for a difference in proportion is conducted to see how many people prefer a particular design, qualities or system over the other. The results of the study show that the current wayfinding system is found by most interviewees, participants, and literature to be inadequate, inconsistent, and unreliable. Further, the results suggest that for many, the most used wayfinding strategies did not include using the existing elements of the wayfinding system. On the other hand, the new proposed wayfinding system proved to be the preferable choice for the majority of users. On most occasions, the new proposed wayfinding system communicated clear messages, displayed correct, accurate, and readable information, and used universally-known elements such as symbols or numbers. Also, the new proposed wayfinding system was praised for its utilization of color and color-coding, creating landmarks-like features and multilingual support. Furthermore, the data collection methodologies resulted in a large number of beneficial suggestions that will help in improving and developing future wayfinding systems. These suggestions included introducing educational or training programs on wayfinding systems for pilgrims, developing and distributing multilingual brochures and handouts to pilgrims, introducing more pedestrian walkways and services, integrating the system with Google maps, and using tracking chips that link between pilgrims’ bracelets and wayfinding elements.