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. 2024 Sep:2024:106-115.
doi: 10.1145/3640792.3675736. Epub 2024 Sep 22.

Accessible Maps for the Future of Inclusive Ridesharing

Paul D S Fink  1 , Hannah Milne  1 , Anthony Caccese  1 , Maher Alsamsam  1 , Jacob Loranger  1 , Mark Colley  2 , Nicholas A Giudice  1
Affiliations

Accessible Maps for the Future of Inclusive Ridesharing

Paul D S Fink et al. AutomotiveUI. 2024 Sep.

Abstract

For people who are blind and low vision (BLV), ridesharing provides an important means of independence and mobility. However, a common challenge relates to finding the vehicle when it arrives to an unanticipated location. Although coordinating with the driver for assistance is serviceable in the near term, new solutions are necessary when a human is no longer available in future automated vehicles. Therefore, this paper presents and evaluates a multisensory smartphone-based map system designed to enable nonvisual tracking of summoned vehicles. Results from a user study with (N=12) BLV users suggest that vibro-audio maps (VAMs) promote superior spatial confidence and reasoning compared to current nonvisual audio interfaces in ridesharing apps, while also being desirable and easy to use. A subsequent expert evaluation based on improvements suggested during the user study indicate the practical utility of VAMs to address both current and future wayfinding challenges for BLV travelers.

Keywords: Accessibility; Blind and Low Vision Users; Haptic Interfaces; Maps; Ridesharing.

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Figures

Figure 1:
Figure 1:
Vibro-audio Ridesharing Maps with the vehicle indicator at the start location (left) and moving along the route
Figure 2:
Figure 2:
Boxplot showing participant scores (1 = Strongly Disagree to 5 = Strongly Agree) between VAM and Audio-only conditions
Figure 3:
Figure 3:
Boxplot for post-test scores (1 = Strongly Disagree to 5 = Strongly Agree) for desirability and ease of use of VAMs
Figure 4:
Figure 4:
Touch data for tracing task down the street (left), around the block (middle), and on the next block (right). The green circle is where the vehicle starts, the blue circle is the vehicle at its destination, and the larger gray circle is the user’s location.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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