Comparison of Object-Based Three-Dimensional Sound and Ambient Sound for Straight Walking

At present, visually impaired people have difficulty using mobility support facilities due to their dependence on the surrounding environment, such as sound and snowfall. In addition, people who later became visually impaired may find it difficult to use these facilities. The current study aimed to develop an easy-to-use walking guidance system that uses three-dimensional (3D) sounds, regardless of the surrounding environment, and examined the characteristics of the guidance sounds produced by the 3D sounds. We implemented this system using a head-mounted display capable of generating three-dimensional sound. Participants were asked to walk in a visually restricted environment to either a real guidance sound or a 3D guidance sound with three types of ambient sounds, and their walking trajectory was evaluated. As a result, we found that the 3D guidance sound showed the opposite tendency to deflect from the ambient sound. However, the guidance accuracy of the 3D guidance sound was similar to that of the real guidance sound.