Quantitative Evaluation of Orientation Performance of Tactile Walking Surface Indicators for the Blind
Tactile walking surface indicators (TWSIs) are installed on roads to support independent travel for the blind. There are two types of TWSIs, attention patterns and guiding patterns. The attention pattern is usually installed at the crosswalk entrances. Th
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Abstract Tactile walking surface indicators (TWSIs) are installed on roads to support independent travel for the blind. There are two types of TWSIs, attention patterns and guiding patterns. The attention pattern is usually installed at the crosswalk entrances. The direction of the crossing can be acquired by the row of the projection of the attention pattern through the soles of the shoes. In addition, truncated domes or cones of the attention pattern were arranged in a square grid, parallel or diagonal at 45° to the principal direction of travel. However, the international standard organization (ISO) allows a wide-ranging size. In this research, the direction indicating performance was compared at the same intervals for the five diameters specified by the international standard. Keywords Tactile walking surface indicators (TWSIs) Blind Orientation Crosswalk
Attention patterns
1 Introduction Tactile walking surface indicators (TWSIs) were invented in Japan in 1965. They are now used around the world to help visually impaired persons. There are two types of TWSIs, attention patterns and guiding patterns [1]. TWSIs are perceived S. Takahashi T. Ishibashi K. Sato S. Ito S. Fujisawa (&) Institute of Technology and Science, Tokushima University, 2-1 Minamijosan-Jima, Tokushima, Tokushima 770-8506, Japan e-mail: [email protected] S. Takahashi e-mail: [email protected] T. Ishibashi e-mail: [email protected] K. Sato e-mail: [email protected] S. Ito e-mail: [email protected] © Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2017 N.A. Stanton et al. (eds.), Advances in Human Aspects of Transportation, Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing 484, DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-41682-3_13
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Table 1 Top diameter and corresponding spacing of truncated domes or cones
Top diameter of truncated domes or cones (mm)
Spacing (mm)
12 15 18 20 25
42–61 45–63 48–65 50–68 55–70
using a long white cane or through the soles of the shoes for the blind. The TWSI design of the attention pattern only calls attention to a hazard or to hazards and decision points. This attention pattern is usually constructed at the crosswalk entrance. The direction of the crossing can be acquired from the row of the projection of the attention pattern detected through the soles of the shoes [2–4]. TWSIs must have high detection sensitivity and a high ability to distinguish objects as well as excellent direction detection. An international standard for TWSIs was enacted in 2012 [5]. The current result of the research is reflected for this ISO [6–9]. However, the international standard organization (ISO) allows a widely-ranging size. The background that allowed the size with a wide-ranging ISO standard was the adoption of various sizes by each country. For instance, the top diameter of attention patterns was specified as 12–25 mm. The spacing was specified as 42–70 mm (Table 1). In addition, truncated domes or cones of the attention pattern were arranged in a square gr
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