Lucia
navigation for
the visually impaired
The Problem
Individuals with visual impairment do not feel confident going out and navigating without the assistance of someone else. This hinders them from experiencing a sense of independence and autonomy.
Our Goal
We intend to design a product utilizing the Internet of Things to create a minimalistic and innovative solution to improve the quality of life of the visually impaired.
Research
Contextual Inquiry
We visited the Savannah Center for the Blind and Low Vision (SCBLV) to speak to a group of visually impaired students about the problems they face in their everyday lives. We also spoke with an Orientation and Mobility Specialist who conducted a mobility training session with our team.
Insights
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Audio from multiple directions at once can confuse and disorient the users easily
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Navigating in an unfamiliar space requires a lot of mental capacity to map out the space
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When using a cane for assistance, individuals prefer to minimize the number of things they are carrying with them
Our team had the opportunity to experience mobility training firsthand.
We wore goggles that simulate different types of vision loss.
“Trying to make [mobility training] timely is another thing. Everything takes a bit of time. It’s hard to get the world to slow down.”
- Dean Stonecipher | Orientation and Mobility Specialist at SCBLV
User Interview
We also had the opportunity to conduct an extended interview with an individual with vision loss, who provided insights and feedback to our team throughout our project’s development. These interviews provided our team with a more holistic view of life with visual impairment.
Insights
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Audio from multiple directions at once can confuse and disorient the users easily
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Navigating in an unfamiliar space requires a lot of mental capacity to map out the space
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When using a cane for assistance, individuals prefer to minimize the number of things they are carrying with them
Our interviewee showed us how he texts using the VoiceOver feature on his iPhone.
These were the items that the interviewee carries with him at all times: an iPhone, wireless headphones, and a folding white cane.
Affinitization
Affinity Mapping
Our gathered insights from primary and secondary research were affinitized to help us identify the challenges that our final solution will address. We framed these insights as “How Might We” questions to turn those challenges into opportunities for design.
Opportunity Areas
How might we instill a sense of autonomy?
How might we create awareness of surroundings?
How might we deliver spatial information?
How might we ease navigation?
How might we inspire exploration?
Persona and User Journey
Using the insights gained from our research, we created a persona and user journey to map out a situation that represent problems a person with a visual impairment might face.
Persona
User Journey Map
Concept Development
The pain points we identified in our user journey lead us to explore technology including: Internet of Things, Haptics, radar technology, voice interface, artificial intelligence, and depth imaging. We originally intended to create a wearable device for individuals with a visual impairment, but then saw an opportunity to add a complementary device that sighted users could wear. Both devices would each pair with a mobile app, and communicate data with the Lucia cloud, so we created a system map to demonstrate this. We created an updated user journey map to illustrate how the journey would be improved with the help of the Lucia system.
Low fidelity system map
We created an updated user journey map to illustrate how the journey would be improved with the help of the Lucia system.
User Journey Map with Lucia
Design Solution
LUCIA is an ecosystem of interconnected wearable devices that aid in the mobility training and navigation of users with visual impairment, instilling a sense of autonomy and inspiring exploration.
Lucia Core
A wearable headset equipped with depth sensors that map out a three-dimensional view of the user’s surroundings, providing guidance via our Assistant through bone conduction technology.
Mapping Language
Utilizing the latest technology in Depth mapping and Artificial Intelligence. The Lucia cloud servers will interpret the recorded data to understand the scene of the user’s surroundings.
Lucia Node
A wearable device for sighted users that wish to preemptively map indoor surroundings and contribute by sharing their scans in the LUCIA Cloud system.
Lucia Cloud Servers
3D Mapping done by the Lucia Core and the Lucia Node devices are sent to LUCIA cloud serves for storage and cross referencing with others scans to create a more accurate environmental model.
Users of both devices continuously collaborate to map out indoor environments that help them and others navigate confidently.
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Gold Winner in Digital Tools and Utilities
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Gold Winner in UX, Interface & Navigation
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Silver Winner in Apps
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Bronze Winner in Interactive Design
Timeframe
10 weeks
Collaborators
Leah Van Proeyen | Geethika Simhadri Bernard Sahdala
My Role
UX Research | UX Design