Supporting People with Vision Impairments in Automated Vehicles: Challenge and Opportunities

Abstract

Autonomous and automated vehicles (AVs) will provide many opportunities for mobility and independence for peoplewith vision impairments (PwVI). This project provides insights on the challenges and potential barriers to their adoptionof AVs. We examine adoption and use of ridesharing services. We study ridesharing as a proxy for AVs as they are asimilar means of single-rider transportation for PwVI through observations and interviews. We also investigateperceptions towards autonomous vehicles and prototypes to address perceived barriers to AV use through design focusgroups with blind and low vision people. From these studies, we provide recommendations to AV manufacturers andsuppliers for how to best design vehicles and interactive systems that people with vision impairments trust.