Olinkha Gustafson-Pearce

Comparison between audio and tactile systems for delivering simple navigational information to visually impaired pedestrians

Many of the current GPS (Global Positioning Systems) navigation aids use an audio method to deliver navigation information to the user. For the visually impaired person this method can be problematic. The visually impaired pedestrian relies heavily on information contained within the ambient sound environment; for location and orientation information, navigation information and, importantly, safety information. In this article we present the design of an innovative tactile interface and verification of results obtained through experimental trials. This pilot study compared the efficiency of the tactile interface to an audio method of delivering simple navigational information. The findings indicate that the tactile interface could be used successfully by blind and sighted pedestrians and may offer advantages over auditory interfaces.

Perceptual Impact of Environmental Factors in Sighted and Visually Impaired Individuals

To a visually impaired individual the physical world presents many challenges. For a person with impaired sight, way finding through a complex environment is fraught with dangers, both actual and imagined. The current generation of mobility aids have the possibility of addressing a broad range of physical issues through technological solutions. The perception of difficulty, however, can mean that many visually impaired individuals are fearful or uncomfortable about independent mobility or travel. In this context it becomes necessary to discover exactly what environments, environmental factors or items constitute a ‘perception of difficulty’ in the individual’s mental landscape and may trigger a negative response before they interact with the physical environment. This article reports on research that sought to ascertain what levels of perceptual difficulties specific environments and factors presented to individuals. The research was conducted with both visually impaired and sighted groups and compared differences and similarities in perceptual difficulty between these two groups.

Testing the effectiveness of a tactile signal to deliver navigation information while the participant's attention is otherwise engaged:

This article reports on a pilot study conducted with sighted and visually impaired participants, which sought to determine how effective a vibro-tactile interface would be in eliciting a physical response from a human user, if the users conscious attention were diverted by a complex audio/verbal task.

The Use of Virtual Environments for Knowledge Sharing in Distance Learning Education, with a View to Informing Industry

As social media and virtual world technology become increasingly commonplace, this paper considers how educators and industry can leverage the tools and systems of these mediums, to enable engagement and knowledge transfer between parties, with a view to informing industry from the lessons learnt. Virtual Worlds have become an extremely powerful phenomenon with millions of users. Businesses are only now beginning to acknowledge the benefits of using virtual worlds to enhance employee and supplier collaboration and to support new ideas and innovation through knowledge sharing across functions and organizational boundaries. Many businesses are still trying to understand the various implications of integrating internal communication systems with social media tools and private collaboration and networking platforms. The KNOWNET project an EC funded Marie Curie IAPP seeks to assess the value of virtual worlds and social networking for knowledge exchange across supply chains.

Supply Chain Learning Using a 3D Virtual World Environment

This paper discusses the use of virtual world technology in relation to the unsustainability of the current levels of greenhouse gas emissions, related to business travel. If it can be demonstrated that the use of virtual worlds enables users to participate in meetings and other events in a manner that benefits the individual and the organisation, without the need for the individuals to meet ‘face to face’, then overall, business travel can be reduced. However creating the virtual environment that engages the user in ‘meaningful’ discourse, requires testing the environment against specific targets. This paper discusses that in the context of Supply Chain Management within the Insurance business, knowledge transfer is a key factor, that is currently conducted through ‘standard’ channels, primarily emails and the telephone. A number of team meetings are also organised, since it is felt that ‘face to face’ contact between members is necessary. Business travel for participants contributes to greenhouse gas emissions. Therefore, for this study, the use of 3D Virtual World (VW) tools to discover if knowledge sharing and learning within a horizontal supply chain managed by a principal insurer, was effective and reduced the need for ‘face to face’ meetings. A set of web based tools, applications and exercises supporting the formation of communities of inquiry and promoting knowledge transfer and learning, through social interaction is presented. These results are from a pilot study that was run over a four month period across an insurance supply chain, to explore how suppliers and the principal insurer shared knowledge, using these tools. With the IoT (Internet of Things) generating multiple sources of ‘streamed’ data, the potential for using this type of data in a format that allows users to access data that is ‘understandable’ to them, is expanding. Within the insurance industry, and specifically home claims, a key priority is to have current and meaningful data on physical events and conditions available to their stakeholders and members of the supply chain. This is to enable them to make correct and timely decisions on claims, for example, weather related claims. Therefore an environment was designed and created, which used live streaming data from the United States Geological Survey, and a variety of VW tools and techniques to illustrate this data, and to orient it to make it relevant to the home claims teams.