Wayfinding
information system

Directions by Phone, a merit review pilot project funded by the Veterans Affairs Rehabilitation R&D Service and carried out at the Rehabilitation R&D Center in Palo Alto.

Co-Principal Investigators
Gayle E Curtis, MS, Rehabilitation R&D Center
LE Apple, PhD, Western Blind Rehabilitation Center
Janice McKinley, MA, Western Blind Rehabilitation Center

Purpose
The goal of this one-year project was to formulate systematic guidelines for giving directions to a visually impaired traveler by telephone using an automated system and to demonstrate its technical feasibility. In addition we intended develop suitable evaluation instruments for such a system and to estimate the demand for it within the VA.

Progress to date
We have compiled a useful set of guidelines for giving directions to a visually impaired traveler and demonstrated the technical feasibility of delivering them through an an automated system. Evaluation instruments have been formulated, and a demand estimation study is complete.

Methodology
Two studies were conducted to develop the guidelines. Seven orientation and mobility instructors were asked to compose directions for travel routes within a given building. First they were given a floor plan and asked to compose directions for three routes. Later they physically traveled the routes and were asked to modify their descriptions as needed. Four blind subjects were given an orientation to the same routes while walking through them with an instructor. Then they composed a verbal description of the route as if giving directions to another blind traveler. The route descriptions were rated by two investigators for common elements of content, structure, and language.

A telephone Interactive Voice Response (IVR) application was developed using Cypress Research PhonePro on the Apple Macintosh. A set of directions was composed using the draft guidelines, and it was tested and revised in a read-through protocol. Resulting scripts were programmed into the IVR system, along with menu selection, help, and supplemental message features. The system was put on-line with a dedicated phone extension at VA Palo Alto for preliminary evaluation. Instruments and procedures were developed for evaluating both the wayfinding information and the telephone interaction.

To estimate the demand for the technology, a market survey was conducted. Blinded veterans participated in conference call focus groups to develop an interview questionnaire. This questionnaire was then given to 83 blinded veterans by Visual Impairment Services Coordinators nationwide. Subjects were given a description of the proposed system and asked questions to elicit an estimation of their demand. A transformation used in market research yielded an estimate the percentage of respondents who would actually use the system. Pearson's correlation coefficient was used to identify the statistical relationship between the intent question scale values, the scale values of the benefits being sought, and the system features preferred.

Results
The guidelines for giving directions describe the elements of content, structure and language that may be most useful in route descriptions, including overview, hazard, and landmark descriptions, as well as their terminology and syntax. The technical demonstration provided a functional test bed for evaluating route descriptions and gave wide access to an example interactive wayfinding information system. It is now in formative evaluation with both blind and sighted users. The evaluation instruments remain to be tested, though overall system performance criteria have been identified, viz., route completion, travel time, maintenance of orientation, and degree of certainty.

The market study showed that if the technology were available, 3,066 end users and 11,192 end uses could be expected in the first year at 55 VA outpatient clinics. The three features perceived to be the most important were the following: skip between menu items; control of playback; and simple and easy to use.

Future Plans
The results of the study indicate that there is a demand for automated wayfinding information and that the technology is available to provide it. We are exploring application of this content area to emerging voice interactive information systems.

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