Indoor Navigation / Wayfinding Issue Paper

This draft is out of date, an update that addresses new research and new technologies is being worked on at Technology-Assisted Indoor Navigation and Wayfinding.

Introduction

This document is an issue paper about indoor navigation. It helps people orient themselves, explore, and navigate through buildings such as museums, hospitals, airports, and public transportation stations. Indoor navigation has come to be known as wayfinding. It is separate from outdoor navigation, such as via global positioning systems (GPS), primarily because GPS do not function inside buildings. See [reference and link to GPS navigation issue paper].

Challenges for people with cognitive disabilities

Difficulty with wayfinding by people with cognitive disabilities ranges from minimal to extreme. They may need minimal help to navigate an indoor location, or they may need more help, such as detailed, step-by-step directions. This can have an impact on people with impairments of:

• memory;
• executive function;
• attention;
• perception processing; and/or
• knowledge.

Memory

People with cognitive disabilities may have to:

• recall where they have been to orient themselves to where they are (spatial awareness);
• review a proposed route many times to understand how to follow it;
• repeat aloud or otherwise reiterate a route multiple times to retain it; and/or
• return to reviewing parts of a route when difficulties mean they cannot retain information.

Executive function

People with cognitive disabilities may not:

• sufficiently process / understand proposed routes;
• understand part of a route because they did not understand the part that preceded it;
• be able to plan how to follow a proposed route despite instructions and clues;
• reorient themselves after having their planned route interrupted; and/or
• have a sense of spatial visualization and awareness (where person is and wants to go).

Attention-related limitations

People with cognitive disabilities:

• may not attend to important instructions, clues, and relevant details; and/or
• may be significantly distracted by stimuli occurring around them.

Language-related functions

People with cognitive disabilities may not understand proposed routes because they:

• are confused by instructions presented in their language, but written with vocabulary from a different culture;
• are stymied by too-complex instructions written in their native language; and/or
• may have comprehension problems exacerbated by instructions presented in a non-native language.

Perception-processing limitations

Many people with cognitive disabilities may not:

• understand instructions because they are not literal and presented plainly; and/or
• comprehend instructions sufficiently to adequately follow them.

Reduced knowledge

Some people with cognitive disabilities may not be able to navigate indoors because:

• they are unfamiliar with navigation symbols and terminology;
• they do not have relevant background knowledge; and/or
• background concepts are not explained simply.

Use cases

• mall
• Hospital
• restaurant

Proposed solutions

Ease-of-use ideas

Technologies

Sample Apps

• BlindSquare - “Pioneering accessible navigation - indoors and outdoors. Know where you are, know where you're going, travel with confidence.”

Research Sources

1. Wayfindr Standard Issued to Address Exponentially Growing Indoor Audio Navigation Market (The Global Initiative for Inclusive ICTs, 2017)
2. Wayfinding news articles - latest research, products, etc. (John Rochford, 2011 - Now)
3. Accessible Way-Finding using Web Technologies (W3C, 2014)
4. Accessible Way-Finding Using Web Technologies Symposium Home (W3C, 2014)
5. Accessible Way-Finding using Web Technologies Online Symposium 3 (W3C, 2014)
6. Way-finding systems (W3C, 2014)
7. Extended Abstract for the RDWG Symposium on Accessible Way-Finding Using Web Technologies, Accessible Wayfinding Ontologies for People with Disabilities (W3C, 2014)
8. Geo-fencing (to address wandering, a problem for people with dementia, autism, ID, ...)
9. Wearable trackers, e.g., LoJack (study on how to obtain insurance coverage)
10. John Sanchez, IBM Engineer - Has been working on Wayfinding for years (i.e, w/ RFID)
11. Aura Ganz, UMass Amherst Engineer - Pilot using NFC at MBTA Arlington Street Station
12. Possibility: http://www.clickandgomaps.com/