Large-Scale Interactive Environments for Mobility Training and Experience Sharing of Blind Children

This book chapter provides a framework for the design and implementation of large-scale interactive environments for orientation and mobility training of blind children. Large-scale interactive environments are physical spaces under the range of a camera hanging from the ceiling and linked to a computer vision system that provides the tracking of a person inside the active area. This allows the coupling of the blind child’s position to the audio output, which can change depending on the child’s movements. Relying on such features, we present “Following the Cuckoo Sound”, an application designed to train children to avoid veering. Previous assessment results show a general decrease of veering from pre- to post-test. Here the same results are analyzed and discussed in the light of four indicators of children’s behavior. Finally, a more advanced interactive soundscape navigation system is proposed as an efficient tool to improve sensory integration of blind children.