Externalizing cognitive maps via map reconstruction and verbal description

Helping blind people to build cognitive maps of an environment is one of the aims of several assistive systems. In order to evaluate such assistive technologies during the development process, users are often asked to externalize their cognitive maps. Using appropriate methods is of considerable importance for externalizing cognitive maps for blind people and sighted people. In this paper, two externalization methods, reconstruction with magnetic bars and verbal description, were investigated with blind people and sighted people. The investigation focused on the three issues: (1) the applicability of the two methods in terms of different knowledge levels; (2) the effect of sensory inputs (e.g. tactile, audio and audio-tactile) for externalizing cognitive maps by blind people; and (3) the ability of the two methods for blind and sighted people. Experimental results by ten blind and ten sighted subjects show reconstruction with magnetic bars is suitable independent of knowledge levels and sensory inputs. Verbal description is suitable in terms of route knowledge if sensory inputs are tactile-only and audio-tactile-based methods. Future studies about how to help blind people externalize route and landmark knowledge when the audio-proprioceptive input is provided should be considered.