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Accessibility & Ageing

Title: Pedestrians are no Cars
Speaker: Gerhard Weber, TU Dresden
When: Jan 20, 15h
Where: 6.2.53 (FCUL)

Abstract:

Navigation and orientation are challenging for people who are blind or have low vision. In this talk Prof. Gerhard Weber will describe some of the research towards understanding user requirements for outdoor and indoor navigation. He will describe several of the issues and how they were addressed in research projects. Tactile maps are known to be helpful in preparing a trip. Dynamic You-are-here maps have been developed in his group to allow map reading while on the move using a portable tactile display. Finding the best route is another challenge, as distance alone is not the only criterion. The MOBILITY project had implemented one of the first indoor navigation apps in Frankfurt airport. The talk will share some of the lessons learned. In the Range-IT project, a ToF camera was utilized to detect obstacles further away than the tip of the white cane can reach. The design of the user interface and its evaluation are covered in this talk.

Short Bio:

Gerhard Weber is Professor in Human-Computer Interaction at TU Dresden, one of the Universities of Excellence in Germany. His works in the field of accessible computing includes development of several aspects of assistive technologies, such as screenreaders, gesture control, access to mathematics, multimedia contents, and personalisation. He runs a service center to support blind students at TU Dresden by accessible study materials.