With estimates of at least 3.4 million Americans aged 40 years and older facing challenges due to vision impairment, advancements in haptic technology have been explored as an effective alternative approach to provide support in aspects such as accessible navigation. A scoping review was conducted to investigate recent literature on haptic technology used to guide blind or low-vision users to a destination, focusing on 28 articles that were identified using the PRISMA method. Results revealed a focus on the methods of haptic input, specifically the benefits and gaps in hands-free and hand-held devices. Several studies utilized the advantages of employing a multimodal feedback approach with audio to better convey navigation information, while explorations of the performance of different types of haptic feedback were also discussed. Overall, this study provides insights into recent advancements in haptic design, which can assist researchers in improving developments toward inclusive navigation technology for blind or low-vision individuals.
AgrawalS.WestM. E.HayesB. (2022). A novel perceptive robotic cane with haptic navigation for enabling vision-independent participation in the social dynamics of seat choice [Conference session]. 2022 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS), Kyoto, Japan, pp. 9156–9163.
2.
AizawaT.IizimaH.AbeK.TadakumaK.TadakumaR. (2021). Study on portable haptic guide device with omnidirectional driving gear. Advanced Robotics, 35(5), 320–336. https://doi.org/10.1080/01691864.2021.1888796
3.
AlzighaibiS.BouazizR.KammounS. (2021). An haptic display for visually impaired pedestrian navigation. In SaeedF.Al-HadhramiT.MohammedF.MohammedE. (Eds.), Advances on smart and soft computing (Vol. 1188, pp. 635–642). Springer Singapore.
4.
BarontiniF.CatalanoM. G.PallottinoL.LeporiniB.BianchiM. (2021). Integrating wearable haptics and obstacle avoidance for the visually impaired in indoor navigation: A user-centered approach. IEEE Transactions on Haptics, 14(1), 109–122. https://doi.org/10.1109/TOH.2020.2996748
5.
BrandebusemeyerC.LutherA. R.KönigS. U.KönigP.KärcherS. M. (2021). Impact of a vibrotactile belt on emotionally challenging everyday situations of the blind. Sensors, 21(21), Article 7384. https://doi.org/10.3390/s21217384
ChaudaryB.PaajalaI.ArhippainenL.PulliP. (2021). Studying the navigation assistance system for the visually impaired and blind persons and ICT use by their caretakers [Conference session]. 2021 28th Conference of Open Innovations Association (FRUCT), Moscow, Russia, pp. 55–66.
8.
ChaudaryB.PohjolainenS.AzizS.ArhippainenL.PulliP. (2023). Teleguidance-based remote navigation assistance for visually impaired and blind people—Usability and user experience. Virtual Reality, 27(1), 141–158. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10055-021-00536-z
9.
Díaz-ToroA. A.Campaña-BastidasS. E.Caicedo-BravoE. F. (2021). Vision-based system for assisting blind people to wander unknown environments in a safe way. Journal of Sensors, 2021(1), Article 6685686. https://doi.org/10.1155/2021/6685686
10.
DimN. K.RenX. (2017). Investigation of suitable body parts for wearable vibration feedback in walking navigation. International Journal of Human-Computer Studies, 97, 34–44. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhcs.2016.08.002
11.
GuerreiroJ.SatoD.AsakawaS.DongH.KitaniK. M.AsakawaC. (2019). CaBot: Designing and evaluating an autonomous navigation robot for blind people [Conference session]. The 21st international ACM SIGACCESS conference on computers and accessibility, Virtual Event, USA, pp. 68–82.
12.
KammounS.BouazizR.SaeedF.QasemS. N.Al-HadhramiT. (2023). HaptiSole: Wearable haptic system in vibrotactile guidance shoes for visually impaired wayfinding. KSII Transactions on Internet and Information Systems, 17(11), 3064–3082.
13.
KammounS.JouffraisC.GuerreiroT.NicolauH.JorgeJ. (2012). Guiding blind people with haptic feedback. Frontiers in Accessibility for Pervasive Computing (Pervasive 2012), 3.
14.
KayukawaS.IshiharaT.TakagiH.MorishimaS.AsakawaC. (2020). Guiding blind pedestrians in public spaces by understanding walking behavior of nearby pedestrians. Proceedings of the ACM on Interactive, Mobile, Wearable and Ubiquitous Technologies, 4(3), 1–22. https://doi.org/10.1145/3411825
15.
LeeM.InH. (2023). Novel wrist-worn vibrotactile device for providing multi-categorical information for orientation and mobility of the blind and visually impaired. IEEE Access, 11, 111860–111874. https://doi.org/10.1109/ACCESS.2023.3321802
16.
LiB.MunozJ. P.RongX.ChenQ.XiaoJ.TianY.ArditiA.YousufM. (2019). Vision-based mobile indoor assistive navigation aid for blind people. IEEE Transactions on Mobile Computing, 18(3), 702–714. https://doi.org/10.1109/TMC.2018.2842751
17.
LiB.MuñozJ. P.RongX.ChenQ.XiaoJ.TianY.ArditiA.YousufM. (2019). Vision-based mobile indoor assistive navigation aid for blind people. IEEE Transactions on Mobile Computing, 18(3), 702–714. https://doi.org/10.1109/TMC.2018.2842751
18.
LiuG.YuT.YuC.XuH.XuS.YangC.WangF.MiH.ShiY. (2021). Tactile compass: Enabling visually impaired people to follow a path with continuous directional feedback [Conference session]. Proceedings of the 2021 CHI conference on human factors in computing systems, Yokohama, Japan, pp. 1–13.
19.
MaS.LiuP. X.GaoJ. (2024). A novel head-mounted navigation device based on vibrotactile stimulation. IEEE Transactions on Instrumentation and Measurement, 73, 1–7. https://doi.org/10.1109/TIM.2024.3374309
20.
MoherD.LiberatiA.TetzlaffJ.AltmanD. G. (2009). Preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses: The PRISMA statement. BMJ, 339, Article b2535. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.b2535
21.
ShinS. M.LimJ.ChoiY. (2024). Guide Dog AR: A tactile and auditory assisting device design with the motif of a guide dog for the visually impaired. International Journal of Human–Computer Interaction, 41(11), 6729–6742. https://doi.org/10.1080/10447318.2024.2383491
22.
SladeP.TambeA.KochenderferM. J. (2021). Multimodal sensing and intuitive steering assistance improve navigation and mobility for people with impaired vision. Science Robotics, 6(59), Article eabg6594. https://doi.org/10.1126/scirobotics.abg6594
23.
SurichaquiS.CentenoE.MendozaM. J.HuemuraD.VelaE. A. (2022). A wearable haptic device capable of performing stretch stimuli for navigation [Conference session]. 2022 International conference on electrical, computer and energy technologies (ICECET), Prague, Czechia, pp. 1–6. https://doi.org/10.1109/ICECET55527.2022.9872930
24.
TachiquinR.VelázquezR.Del-Valle-SotoC.GutiérrezC. A.CarrascoM.De FazioR.Trujillo-LeónA.ViscontiP.Vidal-VerdúF. (2021). Wearable urban mobility assistive device for visually impaired pedestrians using a smartphone and a tactile-foot interface. Sensors, 21(16), Article 5274. https://doi.org/10.3390/s21165274
25.
VargheseM.ManoharS. S.RodriguesK.KodkaniV.PendseS. (2015). The smart guide cane: An enhanced walking cane for assisting the visually challenged [Conference session]. 2015 International Conference on Technologies for Sustainable Development (ICTSD), Mumbai, India, pp. 1–5. https://doi.org/10.1109/ICTSD.2015.7095907
26.
WelpA.WoodburyR. B.McCoyM. A.TeutschS. M. (Eds.) (2016). The impact of vision loss. In Making eye health a population health imperative: Vision for tomorrow. National Academies Press (US).
27.
WilliamsM. A.GalbraithC.KaneS. K.HurstA. (2014). “Just let the cane hit it”: How the blind and sighted see navigation differently [Conference session]. Proceedings of the 16th international ACM SIGACCESS conference on computers & accessibility, Rochester, NY, USA, pp. 217–224.
28.
ZhangX.YaoX.ZhuY.HuF. (2019). An ARCore based user centric assistive navigation system for visually impaired people. Applied Sciences, 9(5), Article 989. https://doi.org/10.3390/app9050989
29.
ZhangX.ZhangH.ZhangL.ZhuY.HuF. (2019). Double-diamond model-based orientation guidance in wearable human–machine navigation systems for blind and visually impaired people. Sensors, 19(21), Article 4670. https://doi.org/10.3390/s19214670
