Instructional Software for Sighted Guides of Visually-Impaired
Travelers

C18-1

I. Sekita *1), N. Sato *2), Y. Uchida *2), T. Murakami *3), H. Shishido *2), T. Sakai *4),
R. Endo *2), C. Mashiko *2), M. Ishikawa *4), Y. Chiba *5), N. Yamaguchi *6), T. Higuchi *7)
1) Tsukuba University of Technology, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8521, Japansekita@cs.k.tsukuba-tech.ac.jp
2) NPO Shirogame
http://shirogame.cool.ne.jp
3) Tokyo Metropolitan Rehabilitation Center for the Physically and Mentally Handicapped
4) Tokyo Independent Living Support Center for the Visually Impaired5) Miyagi Prefectural Blind School6) Kansai Home for the Blind Woman
7) National Inst. of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST)

Abstract
This paper describes an instructional software package of sighted guide techniques to assist
visually-impaired travelers. The software has the following features:(1) The techniques have been developed based on practical experiments and consultation, andare safe and comfortable even for persons who have recently lost their sight.
(2) The software user must choose the correct guidance technique for each sighted guiding
situation in order to obtain a good score. Moreover, the user can learn these techniquesthrough the virtual experience of sighted guiding.
(3) The software has an editing function, allowing the software administrator to easily revise
the content.
Not only helpers but also persons with no direct contact with the visually-impaired canlearn the sighted guide techniques while playing the software for entertainment.
In this presentation, we present an outline of the software and its functions, with ademonstration.
1. INTRODUCTION
Almost all the information that humans receive from outside is in visual form. Visually-impairedpersons (VIPs) encounter not only many inconveniences but also many dangers in their daily lives
due to the lack of visual information about their environments.
The following factors make it very difficulty to walk independently without visual information [1]:(1) Blindfolded humans veer off from a straight line when walking (known as the "veeringtendency")[2].
The 12th International Mobility Conference “Orientation and Mobility in an Inclusive Society”
27 November to 1 December 2006, Hong Kong, China-1-(2) Blindfolded humans cannot move directly away from curved obstacles (known as the"square-off effect")[3].
(3) Sound localization is difficult.
(4) It is difficult to hear previously heard information again.
While some VIPs can go out independently, they need long and various kinds of practice, as well as
experience of moving around in the actual world. However, such trained VIPs cannot be as safe
as sighted persons, and they experience a great deal of psychological stress while walking
independently[4].
In order for a VIP to be able to go out safely, sighted guidance is required. It is necessary andefficient to use a sighted person not only to ensure safety and reduce the psychological stress on thewalker, but also for the VIP to get an accurate grasp of the environment, to improve walking
efficiency, and for exercise and relaxation.
However, even with a sighted guide, accidents occur, such as the VIP falling from stairs or fromstation platforms. These accidents can happen even if the sighted guide is a family member orsomeone intimate with the VIP. One of the main reasons for these accidents is the sighted guide
does not have skill in guidance techniques.
In order to solve this problem, we have studied the safety guidance techniques used by thenon-profit organization (NPO) for VIPs called "Shirogame". We developed some software [5] forpeople to enjoy learning about guidance techniques via the internet, and have also improved it for
more comfortable playing.
The feature of the software is that the guidance techniques themselves are the products of longexperience and an enhancement study. The most important feature is the method of teachingguidance techniques via computer, which is visually exciting and dynamic.
The software has the following advantages from the player's point of view.
1) The player can intuitively learn guidance actions from a real action movie.
2) The software poses questions at every key point in the course of a guidance action. Thus, theplayer explicitly learns these key points, rather than just forming some vague understanding.
3) The software sometimes presents inappropriate guidance actions on purpose, so that the player
experiences moderate levels of tension and to retain player involvement. In these situations, theplayer must direct the software to try again. This feature promotes positive learning in the player.
4) The player can enjoy the software like playing a game because the software shows the player'sscore for correct answers.
5) As the software is programmed in Java-language, players can access the software via theInternet.
2. SIGHTED GUIDE TECHNIQUES FOR SAFELY ASSISTING A VIP
The 12th International Mobility Conference “Orientation and Mobility in an Inclusive Society”
27 November to 1 December 2006, Hong Kong, China-2-It is a matter of great urgency that guides acquire the sighted guide techniques to safely assist VIPs.
Books on sighted guide techniques are available, but they are not so popular on the general market.
Also, because the contents are inconsistent, readers may be puzzled over which technique tochoose.
As a group of walking trainers for VIPs, staff at welfare centers, and engineering researchers, wehave started to refine the sighted guide techniques provided in [6], through experiments andconsultation.
Independent blind travelers can be assisted by persons who are not familiar with sighted guidetechniques, because the travelers can protect themselves by using long white canes. Furthermore,because travelers often establish their own walking style or have preferences about how to beguided, they can instruct a guide on the most appropriate sighted guide techniques for them while
walking with a guide.
Based on these factors, we have improved the sighted guide techniques for assisting persons who
have recently lost their sight. We established “Shirogame,” a non-profit organization (NPO), inNovember 2001, and we have been conducting experiments and closely studying safety-guidancetechniques with the NPO.
In the experiments, we had subjects without any knowledge about VIPs or about the purposes ofthe experiments wear eyemasks, and guided them with little oral information in several settings.
These settings included, for example, taking a seat, passing through doors, ascending anddescending stairs, and getting on/off a bus. The sighted guide techniques have also been
improved [7], in order to safely guide a VIP according to the movements of a guide.
3. SOFTWARE FOR LEARNING SIGHTED GUIDE TECHNIQUES
We have developed some software to learn sighted guide techniques in an enjoyable way via theInternet. The following merits of using this Internet-based learning software are expected;
1) A player can learn the sighted guide techniques at anytime from their own home. Thus, thenumber of people familiar with such techniques will increase.
2) We can gather many comments and questions from the various view points of the players, andreply to them using the FAQ format. This will help to improve and standardize the techniques.
3.1 Specifications(1) Programming language
The software for learning the sighted guide techniques is written in Java. The reasons for this areas follows:
1) Compatibility for networks; There are rich class libraries for Java on the Internet, the safety ofThe 12th International Mobility Conference “Orientation and Mobility in an Inclusive Society”
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an object-oriented language, and the light burden on the client computer.
2) Platform independence; Java programming is independent of system hardware and operatingsystem.
3) Reducing server burdens; Applets written in Java are stored on the server computer, and these
are transmitted to the client computer on request to run on the client’s web-browser.
(2) A variety of typical settings
The software has ten typical settings;
1) Taking a seat, 2) Negotiating narrow spaces, 3) Passing through doors, 4) Using an elevator, 5)Ascending and descending stairs, 6) Getting on/off a bus, 7) Getting in/out of a taxi, 8) Getting
on/off a train, 9) Using an escalator, and 10) Lavatories.
(3) Layout of the screen
There are three kinds of screens for the software.
1) Screen 1: Main image only.
2) Screen 2: Main image, plus a multiple-choice type question with four possible actions. The
player of the software selects one of four possible actions in response to the situation.
3) Screen 3: Answer and comment. The player can check on the reason why the selected action
was correct or not, and know his current score.
3.2 Outline of the flow of the software
1) Select one setting from the 10 typical settings available, as mentioned in 3.1(2).
2) A sequence of images is displayed up to a key image for the guidance techniques, in the Screen 1format.
3) The key image and a question with four possible actions are shown in the Screen 2 format. An
example is shown in Fig.1.

Fig.1: An example of Screen 2.
4) If you select an inappropriate action, a comment is presented in the Screen 3 format, and 5 points
The 12th International Mobility Conference “Orientation and Mobility in an Inclusive Society”
27 November to 1 December 2006, Hong Kong, China-4-are deducted from the score.

Figure 2 shows an example.

Fig. 2: An example of Screen 3, with comment for an inappropriate selection.
5) If the player presses the "Next" button, the software returns to Screen 2, as described under 3)
above.
6) When the player selects the correct action, a comment is displayed in the Screen 3 format, and10 points are added to the score, as shown in Figure 3. The program then continues from stage 2)
above for the next sequence.

Fig. 3: An example of the Screen 3 format with a correct choice.
The software repeats through stages 2) to 6) until the last correct action is selected.
4. DISCUSSION
The interest of the players is retained because some of the questions are rather tricky, so that evenpeople with some confidence in sighted guidance will sometimes chose an inappropriate action.
The 12th International Mobility Conference “Orientation and Mobility in an Inclusive Society”
27 November to 1 December 2006, Hong Kong, China-5-

In addition to VIP helpers, VIP family members and persons with direct contact with VIPs are able
to learn sighted guide techniques by playing the software for entertainment.
Some of the people without contact with VIPs have remarked that "because the software taught mea lot about VIPs, everyone should try the software."Knowledge about sighted guide techniques obtained only by playing the software is not enough toactually assist VIPs, because it is not easy to draw on such knowledge. However, people who do
not have such basic awareness of sighted guide techniques cannot guide VIPs safely. We expectthat people with this knowledge can easily learn to actually guide VIPs by attending a practicalcourse.
Someone with such basic knowledge about where they, as a sighted guide, should stop, will bemuch safer than someone without even this awareness, when asked to guide a VIP.
Even with narrow-band communication, such as 32kbps, all of prepared images are shown, by
selecting a menu for the narrow-band. It can be performed by using linked images with reduced
quality. And most browsers have sufficient cache memory to temporarily store browsed images
and provide prompt display of the images on a second trial of the software.
5. CONCLUSION
We have proposed some training software for helpers to acquire sighted guide techniques to assist
VIPs, especially those who are not accustomed to walking with a sighted guide. The software
runs on the Internet, and people can enjoy playing the software in order to get a good score. We
hope that many people will enjoy playing this software, and we shall continue to refine it based on
the player feedback in terms of its utility, interest and also the effectiveness of the sighted guidetechniques themselves.
We also hope that the number of people with knowledge about sighted
guide techniques will increase.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The authors are grateful to Ms. Y. Choki for this programming, Ms. E. Noguchi and her supervisor Prof. M. Yasunaga of University of Tsukuba for initial programming, and Prof. M. Pauly ofTsukuba University of Technology for assisting with English expressions in the software. They
also express thanks to the member of the NPO Shirogame for valuable discussions.
REFERENCES[1] M. Ohkura, T. Murakami: Lend Your Arm to a Visually Impaired Person, Institute for Scienceof Labour (2000) (in Japanese).
The 12th International Mobility Conference “Orientation and Mobility in an Inclusive Society”
27 November to 1 December 2006, Hong Kong, China-6-[2] I. Tanaka, O. Shimizu, M. Ohkuma, T. Murakami: Direction judgement of blind travelers instraight walking under controlled environment, Nat. Rehab. Res. Bull. Jpn., Vol.9, pp.111-114(1988).
[3] I. Tanaka, O. Shimizu, M. Ohkura, T. Murakami, M. Tauchi: Direction judgement of blind
travelers in straight walking after negotiating an obstacles, Nat. Rehab. Res. Bull. Jpn., Vol.10,
pp145-148 (1989).
[4] I. Tanaka, T. Murakami, O. Shimizu: Heart rate as an objective measure of stress in mobility, J.
Visual Impairment and Blindness, Vol.75, pp.55-63 (1981).
[5] I. Sekita, et al.: Software for sighted guide of visually-impaired traveller, Tech. Rep. of IEICE,WIT2001-10, pp.1-6 (2001) (in Japanese).
[6] T. Murakami: Assisting the Blind Traveler, Japan Association for Behcet's Disease (1990).
[7] T. Murakami, I. Sekita: The Fundamentals of Guide-Help for Visually-Impaired Persons,Bunkodo (2006) (in Japanese).

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27 November to 1 December 2006, Hong Kong, China-7-