Robot-Assisted Group Tours for Blind People

TL;DR

This study explores how a mobile robot can facilitate social group interactions for blind individuals during museum tours, enhancing safety and participation through tailored design insights.

Contribution

The paper introduces a robotic system designed to support blind visitors in mixed-visual group tours, based on user studies and field experiments.

Findings

Users felt safer with robotic navigational support

Concerns about group participation were identified

Preferences for environmental information were observed

Abstract

Group interactions are essential to social functioning, yet effective engagement relies on the ability to recognize and interpret visual cues, making such engagement a significant challenge for blind people. In this paper, we investigate how a mobile robot can support group interactions for blind people. We used the scenario of a guided tour with mixed-visual groups involving blind and sighted visitors. Based on insights from an interview study with blind people (n=5) and museum experts (n=5), we designed and prototyped a robotic system that supported blind visitors to join group tours. We conducted a field study in a science museum where each blind participant (n=8) joined a group tour with one guide and two sighted participants (n=8). Findings indicated users' sense of safety from the robot's navigational support, concerns in the group participation, and preferences for obtaining environmental information. We present design implications for future robotic systems to support blind people's mixed-visual group participation.