Abstract
Independent traveling remains challenging for blind and visually impaired (BVI) individuals. While the white cane is effective at detecting ground-level obstacles, it provides no information about elevated obstacles or object characteristics. Recent technologies have been designed to support navigation as well as object detection. In our study, we compared the performance of 13 BVI participants who separately used two secondary electronic travel aids (ETAs) versus cane use alone. One ETA was a camera-based mobility vest (NOA), and the other was an ultrasonic sensor-based wearable (BuzzClip). Participants completed an obstacle avoidance task with both ETAs and an object detection task using two versions of NOA’s object-finding functionality. Quantitative performance measures and semi-structured interviews were collected. NOA resulted in enhanced obstacle avoidance. Participants used their canes less and collided less with obstacles when using NOA than the BuzzClip or the white cane alone. NOA resulted in lower frustration and higher perceived performance, as well as greater perceived safety and obstacle detection than the BuzzClip. Object-finding performance outcomes were similar across both versions, suggesting potential benefit from a dynamic combination of approaches tailored for each user. Collectively, these data underscore how ETAs may be integrated into use by the BVI community.
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Data and code used in the analysis are available from the corresponding authors upon request.
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Acknowledgements
We thank Dr. Uta R. Roentgen and Ms. Fatima Anaflous for sharing their generous advice and expertise in planning the mobility course and refining the study tasks and questions. We thank all the participants for their engagement in the study. We also thank our colleague, Dr. Matthew Vowels, for his valuable support throughout the research process, particularly for his guidance during the data analysis phase.
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Conceptualization: CEP, MMM; Data curation: CEP; Formal analysis: CEP, EVO; Funding acquisition: MMM, MF; Investigation: CEP, MF; Methodology: CEP, MMM; Project administration: CEP, MMM; Resources: CEP, MF, MMM; Software: MF; Supervision: MMM; Validation: MMM, EVO, MTW, MG; Visualization: CEP, EVO, MMM; Writing – original draft: CEP, MMM, EVO; Writing – review & editing: CEP, MMM, EVO, MTW, MG.
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Pittet, C.E., Ortega, E.V., Fabien, M. et al. Efficacy of electronic travel aids for the blind and visually impaired during wayfinding. Sci Rep (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-37578-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-37578-9
