Robot-Assisted Group Tours for Blind People
Yaxin Hu, Masaki Kuribayashi, Allan Wang, Seita Kayukawa, Daisuke Sato, Bilge Mutlu, Hironobu Takagi, Chieko Asakawa

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…
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Taxonomy
TopicsTactile and Sensory Interactions · Social Robot Interaction and HRI · Robotics and Sensor-Based Localization
