Gebäudekarten Publikationen

Usage of Self-Motivating Achievements to Collect Accessibility Information of Indoor Environments

Jan Schmalfuß-Schwarz, Claudia Loitsch & Gerhard Weber (2023).
Wird publiziert bei: 25th International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction (HCII 2023)

Orientation and finding ways in buildings are particular challenges for people with disabilities. To cope with these obstacles, open accessible indoor maps enriched with accessibility information are required. To generate these is both a time-consuming and knowledge-intensive task. One possible solution is the use of volunteers who collect freely accessible map data. To support so-called mappers in this process, appropriate user-centered applications are needed, that guide and motivate those who collect them in the acquisition. Therefore, we present the results and their conclusions from a study carried out in the German-speaking area, which was primarily aimed at active mappers from the OpenStreetMap community.

Barrierefreie Indoor-Karten – Erfassung von Gebäudedaten samt Barrierefreiheitsinformationen sowie deren Darstellung in barrierefreien Gebäudekarten

Jan Schmalfuß-Schwarz, Claudia Loitsch, Karin Müller & Gerhard Weber (2023-01).
Fachzeitschriftsartitekl in „blind-sehbehindert“ (2023-01), Ausgabe 1/2023, S. 20-27

Die Fähigkeit, sich in Gebäuden zu orientieren sowie zu navigieren, ist eine zentrale Kompetenz in unserer heutigen Zeit, in der ein hoher Grad an Mobilität sowohl im privaten, schulischen, aber vor allem auch im beruflichen Kontext erwartet wird. Das Projekt AccessibleMaps hat in diesem Zusammenhang die Kartographierung von Gebäuden um die Anreicherung von Gebäudedaten mit benötigten Barrierefreiheitsinformationen für Menschen mit Blindheit, Sehbeeinträchtigungen sowie Mobilitätsbeeinträchtigungen erweitert. Innerhalb des Projekts sind verschiedene Anwendungen umgesetzt worden, um die erfassten Daten mittels frei zugänglicher, barrierefreier analoger sowie digitaler Gebäudekarten zur Verfügung zu stellen. Die erzeugten Ergebnisse können einen Grundstein zur weiteren Entwicklung darstellen und zeigen bereits erste Lösungsansätze, aber auch weiterführende Problemstellungen auf.

ATIM: Automated Generation of Interactive, Audio-Tactile Indoor Maps by Means of a Digital Pen

Christin Engel & Gerhard Weber
Joint International Conference on Digital Inclusion, Assistive Technology & Accessibility (ICCHP-AAATE 2022)

Mobile independence requires knowledge about the environment and environmental features. In particular, the location and structure of objects in the environment must be known in order to navigate independently. Tactile maps often require Braille skills as well as tactile graphic reading skills, and also contain less details or need to be divided into many sheets. Audio-tactile maps can overcome these disadvantages and can be used effectively with tactile indoor maps. In this paper, we first classify user tasks of tactile indoor maps. We further present an initial prototype that enables the automated generation of audio-tactile indoor maps on the basis of OSM data that could be used with a digital pen and a smartphone application to get detailed information about the building. It further provides search mode that supports finding a target in a building with sonification. We implemented multiple gestures to interact with the graphic and investigate an initial pilot study with one person with blindness to get first qualitative feedback in terms of our concept. The implemented workflow enables the accessible creation of low-cost, mobile and interactive audio-tactile indoor maps by means with a digital pen.

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-08648-9_15

---

Expert Study: Design and Use of Textures for Tactile Indoor Maps with Varying Elevation Levels

Christin Engel & Gerhard Weber
Joint International Conference on Digital Inclusion, Assistive Technology & Accessibility (ICCHP-AAATE 2022)

Tactile maps could increase the mobility of people with blindness and visual impairments. Most research on the design and development of tactile maps focuses on outdoor environments, whereby indoor environments greatly differ in terms of represented objects, structure, information, and purpose of use. Studies on the design and use of tactile indoor maps are missing, so it is still unclear how textures can be used effectively in tactile maps and which are suitable for which areas and contexts. As a first step, we therefore conducted an expert user study with four blind participants to determine the challenges and benefits of textures in tactile indoor maps. Afterward, we initiated a follow-up study with two experts from the initial study to evaluate the influence of different elevation levels and production methods (swell paper and embossed maps) on the recognition of different textures, symbols, Braille labels, and structure of the building. We observed an influence of the elevation level of the texture on the recognition of map elements. Furthermore, the perceived structure of the texture influences the recognizability of the map elements. As a result, we identified suitable types of textures for rooms and floors in tactile indoor maps.

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-08648-9_14

---

Accessible Mobile Map Application and Interaction for People with Visual or Mobility Impairments

Sebastian Rottmann, Claudia Loitsch, Gerhard Weber (2022)
Mensch und Computer 2022 – Tagungsband. 

Modern map applications provide their users with a multitude of functions that can be used through different forms of interactions. However, many map providers do not adequately meet the needs of users with blindness, low vision or mobility impairments. Therefore, we investigated interaction concepts for an accessible mobile map application. Theses concepts not only focus on the user interface, but also on the map content, which should be accessible to the target groups as well. We conducted a pilot study in which nine participants tested the usability and accessibility of the developed application. Our results show that we created a viable alternative for making map content accessible to people with different needs by providing an additional list view. Feedback from subjects indicated that in future, the listed items need to be meaningfully classified and ordered such that users with visual impairments or blindness can use them to form a mental picture of their surroundings.

https://dx.doi.org/10.1145/3543758.3543780

---

Accessible Adaptable Indoor Routing for People with Disabilities

Fabian Lüders*, Julian Striegl*, Jan Schmalfuß-Schwarz*, Claudia Loitsch, Gerhard Weber (2022).
*Equal contribution
Joint International Conference on Digital Inclusion, Assistive Technology & Accessibility (ICCHP-AAATE 2022)

For people with disabilities, indoor routing approaches have to take the specific requirements of the target user group into account. Depending on the needs of the individual, certain objects and indoor features can present insurmountable barriers and hence, should be avoided when generating indoor routes. Research in the field of indoor routing for people with disabilities has been going on for several years, but most approaches focus on one specific disability and do not evaluate designed systems with the target user group. Therefore, we propose an accessible, adaptable indoor routing algorithm for people with disabilities. The designed system is evaluated in a user study with people with blindness and mobility impairments using a Wizard of Oz approach. Results indicate a good acceptance of the designed routing system.

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-08648-9_20

---

Supporting Independent Travelling for People with Visual Impairments in Buildings by Harmonizing Maps on Embossed Paper and Pin-Matrix Devices for Accessible Info-Points

Jan Schmalfuß-Schwarz*, Christin Engel*, Gerhard Weber (2022). *Equal contribution
Joint International Conference on Digital Inclusion, Assistive Technology & Accessibility (ICCHP-AAATE 2022)

Orientation in unknown buildings is a grand challenge for people with visual impairments in planned as well as in spontaneous scenarios. Therefore, it is necessary to develop solutions that support the whole travelling chain – on the one side the planning process for trips at home and on the other side the orientation process at a building. While different approaches exist for both contexts, in this paper we present a concept using two approaches together for planning and carrying out trips to unknown buildings. We focus on the one hand on tactile printed or embossed maps and on the other hand on digital tactile pin-matrix displays. The first type is suitable for pre-journey planning activities, while the second technology is designed for on-site use. Both approaches are able to provide spatial and configurational knowledge for the tactile sense. Based on this, we describe in this paper how both types could be harmonized to facilitate access to indoor maps in the given scenarios. We present prototypes for tactile indoor maps on embossed paper and demonstrate how a interaction on pin-matrix device can be designed and implemented to be used together and allow similar interaction with both.We propose providing dynamic maps as accessible info-points in buildings. Special focus is on the challenge of splitting tactile indoor maps into multiple views or sheets and how this can be achieved in a similar way with both methods.

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-08648-9_17

---

Traveling more Independently: A Study on the Diverse Needs and Challenges of People with Visual or Mobility Impairments in Unfamiliar Indoor Environments

Karin Müller, Christin Engel, Claudia Loitsch, Rainer Stiefelhagen (2022).
ACM Transactions on Accessible Computing, (TACCESS) February 2022

It is much more difficult for people with visual or mobility impairments to prepare for a trip or visit unfamiliar places than it is for people without disabilities. In addition to the usual travel arrangements, one needs to know if the various parts of the travel chain are accessible. To the best of our knowledge, there is no previous work that examines in depth travel behavior for indoor environments for both trip planning and execution, highlighting the special needs of people with low vision, blindness, or mobility impairments (MIs). In this article, we present a survey of 125 participants with blindness, low vision, and MIs. We investigate how mobile they are, what strategies they use to prepare a journey to an unknown building, how they orient themselves there, and what materials they use. For all three groups, our results provide insights into the problem space of the specific information needs when planning and executing a trip. We found that most of our participants have specific mobility problems depending on their disability. Feedback from the participants reveals that there is a large information gap, especially for orientation in buildings, regarding availability of high-quality digital, tactile, and printable indoor maps; accessibility of buildings; and mobility supporting systems. In particular, there is a lack of available and high-quality indoor maps. Our analysis also points out that the specific needs differ for the three groups. Besides the expected between-group differences, large in-group differences can also be found. The current article is an expanded version of earlier work [18] augmented by data of people with MIs.

https://doi.org/10.1145/3514255

---

An Audio-Tactile System for Visually Impaired People to Explore Indoor Maps

Giuseppe Melfi, Jean Baumgarten, Karin Müller, Rainer Stiefelhagen (2022).
Joint International Conference on Digital Inclusion, Assistive Technology & Accessibility (ICCHP-AAATE 2022)

Abstract:
Nowadays, a great amount of information is communicated in visual form. This excludes visually impaired people from easily accessing that information. A consequence is that they tend to limit their mobility due to lack of information. The goal of this work is to make indoor maps more accessible to help blind people preparing a trip to unknown buildings. In our approach, we further developed an interactive audio-tactile system to facilitate access to indoor maps. A study with blind participants showed that the prototype was well accepted and easy to use. The participants were able to achieve accurate mental models of the provided maps. A further comparison with sighted participants using visual maps showed no significant differences in the ability to describe the maps.

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-08648-9_16

---

The Accessible Tactile Indoor Maps (ATIM) Symbol Set: A Common Symbol Set for Different Printing Methods

Giuseppe Melfi, Karin Müller, Gerhard Jaworek, Rainer Stiefelhagen (2022).
Joint International Conference on Digital Inclusion, Assistive Technology & Accessibility (ICCHP-AAATE 2022)

Abstract:
In this paper, we describe a method on how to create a common tactile symbol set for printing methods which differ in resolution. We used a well-tested symbol set for swell paper as a basis and defined criteria on how to transfer the symbols to a different printing method. The method was developed in a user-centered design approach and assessed by a blind expert on tactile graphics resulting in the Accessible Tactile Indoor Maps (ATIM) symbol set. Moreover, we extracted the most important accessibility features for indoor environments and mapped them to distinct symbols. The presented method can also be useful for transfer to other printing techniques with a different resolution.

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-08648-9_18

---

Split it Up: Allocentric Descriptions of Indoor Maps for People with Visual Impairments

Julia Anken, Danilo Rosenthal, Karin Müller, Gerhard Jaworek, Rainer Stiefelhagen (2022).
Joint International Conference on Digital Inclusion, Assistive Technology & Accessibility (ICCHP-AAATE 2022)

Abstract:
Planning a trip to unfamiliar public buildings is challenging for people with visual impairments as much visual information such as floor plans is not accessible. Textual descriptions of an indoor map would therefore be very useful to prepare a trip. In particular, an allocentric description independent from the current location of the user which could be used at home would support the preparation phase. However, descriptions of buildings are rarely available. So the main question is how to tailor the descriptions to the needs of people with visual impairments in order to not overwhelm them with too much information at a time. We propose a system for the generation of allocentric textual descriptions for public buildings. In a user study, we tested the usefulness of our system and found that a modular design is regarded helpful to clearly structure descriptions by splitting the description into meaningful modules and avoiding information overload.

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-08648-9_13

---

Listening First: Egocentric Textual Descriptions of Indoor Spaces for People with Blindness

Angela Constantinescu*, Eva-Maria Neumann*, Karin Müller, Gerhard Jaworek, Rainer Stiefelhagen (2022).
*Equal contribution
Joint International Conference on Digital Inclusion, Assistive Technology & Accessibility (ICCHP-AAATE 2022)

Abstract:
Orientation in unknown environments is challenging for people with blindness. Especially in indoor environments, there are very few systems that support navigation but almost none for orientation. Thus, we propose a grammar for generating German textual descriptions of indoor environments for users with blindness. We utilize an egocentric approach taking into account the user’s location and orientation in the building. To investigate what word order is preferred, we compare descriptions generated by three different grammars. We also examine what strategies people with blindness pursue to orient themselves in buildings. We test our concept in an online user study with people with blindness. Our study shows that egocentric information should be brief, always following the same structure and allow for customization.

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-08648-9_28

---

Traveling to Unknown Buildings: Accessibility Features for Indoor Maps

Angela Constantinescu, Karin Müller, Claudia Loitsch, Sebastian Zappe, Rainer Stiefelhagen (2022).
Joint International Conference on Digital Inclusion, Assistive Technology & Accessibility (ICCHP-AAATE 2022)

Abstract:
Traveling independently to unknown buildings is difficult for people with disabilities, as there is a lack of information about accessibility of indoor environments. In particular, there are hardly any freely available indoor maps of public buildings. In this paper, we address the problem that there is no comprehensive list of information relevant to people with disabilities in indoor environments, which in turn can be used for indoor orientation and navigation systems.
We therefore collected in an extensive literature review around 820 indoor accessibility features relevant for people with disabilities. These were categorized and sorted in a database and mapped to OSM and A11yJSON. The database is publicly available and can serve as a basis for tag proposals to OSM, and as Linked Data (RDF).

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-08648-9_26

---

Erzeugung von Indoor-Karten-Daten unter Berücksichtigung von Barrierefreiheitsinformationen

Jan Schmalfuß-Schwarz (2022).
FOSSGIS 2022 Anwenderkonferenz für Freie und Open Source Software für Geoinformationssysteme, Open Data und OpenStreetMap

Die Erfassung von Gebäudedaten ist zeitaufwendig, da sie meist mit einem hohen Aufwand verbunden ist. Gleichzeitig sind frei zugängliche Gebäudekarten mit enthaltenen Barrierefreiheitsinformationen eine nützliche Hilfestellung, um Menschen mit Beeinträchtigungen bei der Planung von Reisen zu unterstützen. Hier eignen sich frei verfügbare Karten-Daten besonders, da somit mannigfaltige Lösungen für die Ausgabe der Karten entwickelt und somit nutzenendenzentrierte Anwendungen umgesetzt werden können. Dieser Erzeugungsprozess kann durch geeignete Ansätze unterstützt und vereinfacht werden. So könnten beispielsweise Fluchtpläne herangezogen werden, um grundlegende Informationen über Etagen zu gewinnen und somit den Prozess teilweise zu automatisieren. Ferner bedarf es Anwendungen, welche die Erfassung von Barrierefreiheitsinformationen unterstützen, sodass nicht nur Expert:innen die benötigten Daten erfassen können.

---

---

Barrierefreie Indoor-Karten

Jan Schmalfuß-Schwarz, Christin Engel und Claudia Loitsch (2021).
FOSSGIS 2021 Anwenderkonferenz für Freie und Open Source Software für Geoinformationssysteme, Open Data und OpenStreetMap

Abstract:
Innerhalb des Beitrags zum Thema „Barrierefreie Indoor-Karten“ wird auf das vielschichtige Gebiet der Gebäudekartendarstellung für Menschen mit Blindheit, Seh- sowie Mobilitätseinschränkungen eingegangen. Insbesondere sollen die Nützlichkeit und Relevanz frei verfügbarer Gebäudekartendaten dargelegt, der Bedarf von spezifischen Barrierefreiheitsinformationen erläutert sowie der aktuelle Stand der Technik für die barrierefreie Kartendarstellung aufgezeigt werden. Darüber hinaus werden Lösungsideen zur Erfassung der dafür benötigten Daten vorgestellt und diskutiert. Der Fokus liegt dabei auf der Annahme, dass Reisende sich bereits vorab über die örtlichen Gegebenheiten informieren möchten.

Die Relevanz dieses Themas ist vielschichtig. Digitale Barrierefreiheit wird durch die EU-Richtlinie über den barrierefreien Zugang zu Webangeboten zunehmend durchgesetzt. Für digitale Karten gibt es bisher jedoch weder Standards, wie diese umgesetzt werden kann, noch ausreichend Daten, welche die Barrierefreiheit unserer physischen Umgebung umfassend beschreiben. Letzteres trifft insbesondere für Gebäude zu, da es nur wenige georeferenzierte Innenkarten gibt (z. B. auf OpenStreet-Map), die für eine barrierefreie Darstellung von Gebäuden geeignet sind.

---

„Analyzing the Design of Tactile Indoor Maps”

Engel C., Weber G. (2021). Analyzing the Design of Tactile Indoor Maps. In: Ardito C. et al. (eds) Human-Computer Interaction – INTERACT 2021. INTERACT 2021. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 12932. Springer, Cham.

Abstract:
Tactile maps are feasible to increase the mobility of people with blindness and to achieve spatial information of unknown environments. Exploring tactile maps could be a hard task. Research on the design of tactile maps, especially the design and meaningfulness of tactile symbols, mostly addresses outdoor environments. The design of tactile indoor maps has been studied less frequently, although they differ significantly from outdoor environments. Therefore, in this paper, 58 tactile indoor maps have been investigated in terms of the design of the headline, additional map information, legend, walls and information presentation types used. In addition, the design of common objects for indoor environments, such as doors, entrances and exits, toilets, stairs and elevators, has been examined in more detail and commonly used symbols have been extracted. These findings form the basis for further user studies to gain insights into the effective design of indoor maps.

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-85623-6_26

---

„Travelling more independently: A requirements analysis for accessible journeys to unknown buildings for people with visual impairments”

Christin Engel, Karin Müller, Angela Constantinescu, Claudia Loitsch, Vanessa Petrausch, Gerhard Weber, Rainer Stiefelhagen (2020).
The 22nd International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2020)

Abstract:
It is much more difficult for people with visual impairments to plan and implement a journey to unknown places than for sighted people, because in addition to the usual travel arrangements, they also need to know whether the different parts of the travel chain are accessible at all. The need for information is presumably therefore very high and ranges from knowledge about the accessibility of public transport as well as outdoor and indoor environments. However, to the best of our knowledge, there is no study that examines in-depth requirements of both the planning of a trip and its implementation, looking separately at the various special needs of people with low vision and blindness. In this paper, we present a survey with 106 people with visual impairments, in which we examine the strategies they use to prepare for a journey to unknown buildings, how they orient themselves in unfamiliar buildings and what materials they use. Our analysis shows that requirements for people with blindness and low vision differ. The feedback from the participants reveals that there is a large information gap, especially for orientation in buildings, regarding maps, accessibility of buildings and supporting systems. In particular, there is a lack of availability of indoor maps.

https://doi.org/10.1145/3373625.3417022

Vortrag auf YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wJDUHmUGjws

---

Claudia Loitsch, Karin Müller, Christin Engel, Gerhard Weber und Rainer Stiefelhagen (2020).
17th International Conference on Computers Helping People with Special Needs

Abstract:
Persons with visual and mobility impairments often have problems when planning and implementing a trip to unknown buildings due to the inaccessibility of the built environment, the unavailability of reliable information, and missing mobility-supporting applications for indoor environments. One reason is the lack of barrier-free indoor maps enriched with accessibility information to support the diverse needs of people with disabilities. This paper provides a comprehensive review of user requirements, mobility-related applications and digital maps. We identify different gaps in supporting indoor mobility, i.e lack of (i) dedi-cated requirement analyses for mobility in unknown buildings, (ii) proce-dures to improve the coverage of digital indoor maps, (iii) standards for barrier-free map representations and (iv) location-based indoor services that meet the needs of people with disabilities. Besides, we introduce the AccessibleMaps project, which addresses some of these gaps by automat-ically generating indoor maps enriched with accessibility features.

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-58805-2_34

---

---