Auditory Perception

Auditory Cues Used for Wayfinding
in Urban Environments
by Individuals with Visual
Impairments
Athanasios Koutsoklenis and Konstantinos Papadopoulos
Abstract: The study presented here examined which auditory cues individuals
with visual impairments use more frequently and consider to be the most
important for waynding in urban environments. It also investigated the ways in
which these individuals use the most signicant auditory cues.
In their everyday lives, people often use
sounds that support the cycle of percep-
tion and action (Stoffregen & Pittenger,
1995). In the case of individuals with
visual impairments, the use of sounds is
essential because the perception and in-
terpretation of auditory cues are vital for
waynding. Waynding refers to the pro-
cess of navigating in an environment and
traveling through space using relatively
direct paths (Long & Hill, 1997). It in-
cludes the features of encoding, process-
ing, and retrieving information about the
environment (Blades, Lippa, Golledge,
Jacobson, & Kitchin, 2002; Kitchin &
Blades, 2001). The term waynding was
rst coined by Lynch (1960), who de-
scribed waynding as a consistent use
and organization of denite sensory cues
from the external environment (p. 3).
Vision is considered to be the most pow-
erful sense for collecting spatial informa-
tion (Gibson, 1979; Sholl, 1996) and can
be used to gain rich information about the
locations and layouts of near and far
space (Warren, 1978). Nevertheless, indi-
viduals with visual impairments can suc-
cessfully use their remaining senses to
gain spatial knowledge and then can ap-
ply their cognitive abilities to dene the
meaning of this knowledge for their spa-
tial orientation (Guth & Rieser, 1997).
Hearing, like vision, is a distance sense
and can provide information about ob-
jects in both near and far space (Blauert,
1997). Successful waynding often de-
pends on localizing objects or surfaces in
the immediate surroundings (Guth & Rie-
ser, 1997). Objects can be detected using
changes in the ambient sound eld as an
individual walks and interacts with the
environment and can be identied on the
basis of any sound they produce (Gaver,
1993). Information on the direction and
distance of the sound source is necessary
for its localization (Grantham, 1995).
Hearing facilitates the appreciation of
depth and distance and enables the under-
standing of environmental features (Wie-
ner & Lawson, 1997). For instance, vari-
ations in the spectrum of the ambient
sound elds within roundabouts can pro-
vide information about the roundabouts
spatial structures (Wiener et al., 1997),
2011 AFB, All Rights Reserved Journal of Visual Impairment & Blindness, October-November 2011 703
and the sound of trafc can be used to
indicate the location and orientation of a
street (Ashmead et al., 1998).
By using auditory cues, individuals
with visual impairments can also gain in-
formation about landmarks and points of
information and can use this information
to determine and maintain their orienta-
tion within an environment (Jansson,
2000). Hearing is also used to determine
the type of environment in which an in-
dividual navigates outdoors (Gardiner
& Perkins, 2005). Furthermore, Gaver
(1993) argued, in their everyday listening
activities, people hear events as well as
sounds. According to Gaver, sound con-
veys rich information that is sufcient to
determine many features and dimensions
of events.
It has long been known that individuals
who are visually impaired use reected
sound to navigate within space. For ex-
ample, this echolocation ability facilitates
these individuals ability to walk parallel
to a wall, since the echo of sound on the
wall creates a wall of sound on one side
of the traveler (Ashmead & Wall, 1999).
The interpretation of echoes also provides
individuals with visual impairments with
information regarding the size, shape, and
composition of specic objects (Kellogg,
1962; Rice, 1967). A surface that ob-
structs a source of sound may mediate,
reect, and absorb the acoustic signal,
resulting in an acoustic or sound shadow
(Gordon & Rosenblum, 2004). Sound
shadows are frequently created when the
sound of passing cars is reected or ab-
sorbed by objects such as poles, telephone
booths, and bus shelters (Wiener & Law-
son, 1997). These shadows result in a
travelers increased attention to the envi-
ronmental features that produce them
(Gardiner & Perkins, 2005).
The ability to use environmental audi-
tory cues is important for individuals with
visual impairments because this skill can
be used in many environments and is al-
ways readily available once it is devel-
oped (Carlson-Smith & Wiener, 1996).
However, the auditory system is particu-
larly vulnerable to interference in urban
areas, which may lead to false interpreta-
tions of the perceived auditory cues
(Foulke, 1982). Interfering sounds may
obstruct the interpretation of the auditory
cues that individuals with visual impair-
ments need to use to obtain information
that is useful for their waynding
(Foulke, 1996). Therefore, it would be
particularly benecial for individuals who
are visually impaired to pay attention to
the auditory cues that can best facilitate
the process of waynding. When the
listener is trained to respond preferen-
tially to one sound out of many, there is
evidence of enhanced processing of the
trained stimuli. This is an objective cor-
relate of what is commonly meant by the
term selective attention (Darwin & Car-
lyon, 1995).
Practice in using auditory information
has been an integral part of orientation
and mobility (O&M) training, and O&M
specialists have developed training proce-
dures that use real environments and ac-
tual sounds (Wiener & Sifferman, 1997).
Easton and Bentzen (1999) found that
training in an enhanced acoustic environ-
ment facilitates the abilities of individuals
who are blind to keep track of changing
relationships between them and objects in
their environments. Nevertheless, the ex-
act auditory information that is required
for certain tasks has not been sufciently
704 Journal of Visual Impairment & Blindness, October-November 2011 2011 AFB, All Rights Reserved
investigated, and training in the use of
auditory cues is often based on special-
ists opinions, rather than on an empiri-
cally developed conceptual framework
(Ashmead et al., 1998).
The study
The study presented here sought to exam-
ine which auditory cues individuals with
visual impairments consider to be the
most signicant for waynding in urban
environments and to explore the ways in
which individuals with visual impair-
ments use these cues. The particular aims
of the study were as follows:
1. to record the auditory cues used by
individuals with visual impairments
for waynding in urban environments,
2. to identify which auditory cues are
used more frequently for waynding,
3. to identify which auditory cues are
considered to be the most useful for
waynding,
4. to classify the auditory cues used for
waynding on the basis of their sig-
nicance, and
5. to examine the ways in which individ-
uals with visual impairments use these
cues for waynding.
METHOD
In the study, the ethical principles of the
Declaration of Helsinki were applied. In
addition, consent was obtained from the
participants using the appropriate forms
and according to the procedures sug-
gested by the World Medical Association.
The individuals who participated in the
study were randomly recruited from the
Panhellenic Association of the Blind.
All the participants are residents of the
city of Thessaloniki, which, with a pop-
ulation of about 800,000, is the second
largest city in Greece. None of the par-
ticipants in all stages of this study had
any additional impairment or disability.
To answer the research questions, we
collected both quantitative and qualita-
tive data. The data collection procedure
consisted of three parts: a focus-group
interview, questionnaires, and fully
structured interviews.
Focus-group interview
Initially, we intended to create a list with
the possible auditory cues (that is, sounds
emitted by primary and secondary envi-
ronmental attributes or objects) that are
used for waynding. Toward this end, we
conducted a focus-group interview with
10 individuals with visual impairments
who were randomly selected from the
Panhellenic Association of the Blind. The
participants (5 men and 5 women) ranged
in age from 20 to 38 (M 26.8, SD
6.3); 4 were blind and 6 had low vision,
and 2 were congenitally visually impaired
and 8 were adventitiously visually im-
paired. With respect to their O&M train-
ing, 6 participants stated that they had
received formal training, and 4 stated that
they had never received such training.
Regarding independent travel, 5 partici-
pants stated that they always travel inde-
pendently, and 5 stated that they some-
times travel alone and sometimes travel
with the help of a human guide.
The focus group was chosen as a
method because it produces data and in-
sights that would be less accessible with-
out the interaction found in a group set-
ting (Lindlof & Taylor, 2002). The
discussion was aided by the lead author
who had previous experience in facilitat-
ing focus groups.
We explained the exact meaning of the
term waynding to the participants. Next,
the facilitator of the focus group provided
examples of auditory cues that have been
reported in the literature as used for way-
nding (such as the sound of trafc).
Then the participants were asked to recall
which auditory cues they use while nav-
igating in urban outdoor environments.
The session was audiorecorded and fully
transcribed.
Questionnaire
The list of auditory cues that were iso-
lated in the focus group was used as a
basis for developing the questionnaire.
The questionnaire consisted of two ques-
tions for each auditory cue: How often
do you use this auditory cue for waynd-
ing? and How useful do you think that
this auditory cue is for your waynding?
A 4-point Likert scale was used for both
questions. The four possible responses for
the rst question were never, seldom,
sometimes, and often, and those for
the second question were not useful at
all, of little usefulness, moderately
important, and important. The ques-
tionnaire also included questions regard-
ing the personal characteristics of the par-
ticipants (such as age, gender, age at onset
of the visual impairment, vision status,
cause of vision loss, O&M training, and
independent movement). Sixty individu-
als with visual impairments (36 men and
24 women) who ranged in age from 17 to
79 (M 34.5, SD 13.8) answered the
questionnaire. Of the 60, 30 were blind
and 30 had low vision, and 26 were
congenitally visually impaired and 34
were adventitiously visually impaired.
With respect to their O&M training, 29
participants (48.3%) stated that they
had received formal training, and 31
participants (51.7%) stated that they
had never received such training. The
majority of the participants (n 53,
88.3%) stated that they had not received
any particular training or advice on the
use of auditory cues. Regarding inde-
pendent travel, 22 participants (36.7%)
stated that they always travel indepen-
dently, 2 (3.3%) stated that they travel
with the help of a human guide, and 36
(60%) stated that they travel both inde-
pendently and with a human guide.
Interviews
Interviews were used to collect qualita-
tive data on the ways in which individuals
with visual impairments use auditory cues
for waynding. Fully structured inter-
views were chosen because they are ap-
propriate for examining the meaning of
particular phenomena to a participant
(King, 1994). Twenty of the 60 individu-
als who answered the questionnaire were
selected for the interviews, on the basis of
their vision status and O&M training.
Both individuals who are blind and those
with low vision were selected for the in-
terviews to collect data from individuals
with different levels of visual input. In
addition, individuals with and without
O&M training were selected. Half the
participants, who ranged in age from 20
to 56 (M 33.4, SD 11.5), were male,
and half were female. Furthermore, half
were blind, and half had low vision; 7
were congenitally visually impaired, and
13 were adventitiously visually impaired.
With respect to their O&M training, 10
participants stated that they had received
formal training in O&M, and 10 stated
that they had never received such train-
ing. With regard to independent travel, 14
participants stated that they always travel
independently, 1 participant stated that he
travels with the help of a human guide,
and 5 stated that they travel in both ways.
We used fully structured interviews
with one predetermined question with
xed wording for each of the 10 most
signicant auditory cues. The question
was How do you use this particular au-
ditory cue for waynding? For example,
for the auditory cue car passing, the
question was How do you use the sound
of a car passing for waynding? The
participants were encouraged to describe
as many ways as possible that they might
potentially use each auditory cue We au-
diorecorded and fully transcribed each
interview.
Results
FOCUS GROUP
Initially, we analyzed data from the
focus-group interview. First, we wrote
down all auditory cues stated by all the
participants and created a list that con-
tained all these cues. Group discussion
and interaction resulted in a list of 54
auditory cues used for waynding. The
types of auditory cues mentioned in the
focus group varied, from auditory cues
produced by machines (such as an air-
plane, a car, or a motorcycle) to human
activities (like children playing, people
entering or leaving a shop, or people talk-
ing) to nature-related auditory cues (in-
cluding birds, a brook, and ocean waves).
QUESTIONNAIRE
The questionnaire consisted of two
closed-ended questions for each auditory
cue. All the 54 cues mentioned in the
focus-group interview were included in
the questionnaire. The means for the au-
ditory cues for both questions (frequency
and usefulness) were calculated. Two dif-
ferent lists of auditory cues were created
from the participants answers to the
questionnaire: a list with the auditory
cues sorted into ascending order starting
with the most frequently used and a list
with the auditory cues sorted into ascend-
ing order starting with those considered to
be the most useful for waynding. Sev-
eral cues were reported as frequently used
but had low usefulness scores, and vice
versa. To identify the auditory cues that
have an overall impact on waynding, we
created a third list containing the most
signicant auditory cues for waynding.
Signicance was calculated by multiply-
ing frequency and usefulness. The third
list contained the auditory cues sorted in
order from the most to the least signicant
for waynding.
Because of space limitations, only the
top 10 cues for each category and their
scores are presented here. Figures 1, 2,
and 3 present the mean scores for the top
10 auditory cues sorted starting with
those with the highest scores based on
frequency, usefulness, and signicance,
respectively. For example, the mean score
3.5 for the auditory cue trafc controls
with accessible pedestrian signals (APS)
in the question How useful do you think
that this auditory cue is for your waynd-
ing? represents the participants answers
that lie between moderately important
and important.
INTERVIEWS
The participants reported several ways in
which they used each of the top 10 audi-
tory cues. The statements were counted,
and the totals for each response are
presented in Table 1. Moreover, coding of
the data revealed that different auditory
cues are used for similar purposes. Six
main categories regarding the use of au-
ditory cues emerged from the analysis:
(1) identifying and localizing objects, (2)
maintaining orientation, (3) walking in a
straight line, (4) determining the type of
environment, (5) avoiding moving obsta-
cles and possible hazards, and (6) street
crossing.
Identifying and localizing objects
The participants reported the use of sev-
eral different auditory cues for the iden-
tication and localization of objects in
their environments. The sounds of cars,
buses, and motorcycles indicate the pres-
ence of streets. The sounds of cars and
motorcycles are also used to estimate the
distance from the street and to locate the
street, while the sound of buses shows
that there is a bus stop nearby, and the
sound of taxis shows that there is a taxi
stand nearby. The sound of a car braking
indicates the presence and location of
trafc lights, while vehicle horns, al-
though they were reported as more con-
fusing than useful, indicate the location of
a street. The sound of street trafc indi-
cates the presence of and distance to a
street. Trafc controls with APS indicate
their locations and thus the location of a
Figure 1. Means with 95% condence interval error bars for the 10 auditory cues reported
as the most frequently used for waynding.
pedestrian crossing. The sound produced by
people walking provides information about
shop entrances and the presence of narrow
streets where vehicles are not allowed.
Maintaining orientation
Sounds produced by cars, motorcycles,
and buses that show the direction of the
street trafc and whether it is a one- or
two-way street help individuals maintain
orientation in an urban environment. The
participants reported that they use the trafc
controls with APS to orient themselves to
their location in the city because there are
not many trafc controls with APS in the
city where the study was conducted.
Walking in a straight line
Walking in a straight line is facilitated by
the sounds of cars and motorcycles and by
following the sound of the footsteps of
pedestrians ahead. Moreover, the trafc
controls with APS helped the participants to
maintain a straight line while crossing a
street.
Determining the type of environment
A busy street is indicated by the sound of
street trafc and the frequent use of ve-
hicle horns, while the sound of buses in-
dicates a main street. The sound of people
entering or leaving a shop provides
Figure 2. Means with 95% condence interval error bars for the 10 auditory cues reported
as the most useful for waynding.
information about the presence of shops
and may indicate a commercial street.
Sounds produced by the interactions of
pedestrians with different ground textures
were also cited as helpful for determining
an environment.
Crossing a street
All the participants stated that the trafc
controls with APS are very helpful for
crossing a street. They also stated that
sounds produced by cars, motorcycles,
and buses help them to decide when to
cross a street by listening to the brakes of
these vehicles.
Avoiding obstacles and hazards
The participants also stated that they use
several sounds to avoid moving obstacles
and possible hazards when navigating in an
urban environment. They use auditory cues
to avoid cars, motorcycles, and buses. In
addition, the sounds produced by footsteps
help them to avoid collisions with other
people.
Discussion
The participants reported the use of sev-
eral auditory cues to identify and localize
objects, maintain orientation, walk in a
straight line, determine the type of
Figure 3. Means with 95% condence interval error bars for the 10 most signicant auditory
cues for waynding.
Table 1
The use of the 10 most signicant auditory cues.
Auditory cue
Reason for use and number of times reported
(in parentheses)
Car passing To understand the direction of the cars (7)
To avoid the cars (5)
To understand that a there is a street (5)
To estimate the distance from the street (5)
To cross the street (4)
To locate the street (3)
To maintain a straight walking line parallel to the street (3)
To maintain orientation (2)
Street traffic To understand where the street is (8)
To understand that I am approaching a busy street (4)
To understand what lies between the street and myself (1)
Bus passing To understand that there is a bus stop nearby (10)
To understand that a bus is approaching (3)
To understand whether the street is one-way or not (3)
To understand that I am approaching a central street (2)
To avoid the bus (2)
To understand that there is a street (1)
Footsteps
To maintain walking in a straight line by following the sound of the
footsteps of other pedestrians (6)
To understand changes in texture (5)
To avoid crashing into other people (4)
To understand if there are any stairs in front of me from the sounds
produced by the footsteps of the pedestrians ahead of me (2)
To locate narrow streets where cars are prohibited (1)
Traffic controls with accessible
pedestrian signals To cross the street (20)
To locate the traffic light (6)
As a location referenceevery time I hear the sound signal, I know
where I am because there are not many traffic controls with
accessible pedestrian signals in my city (3)
When I cross the street, it helps me to walk in a straight line (1)
Taxi passing To understand that I am close to a taxi stand (3)
To avoid the taxi (2)
People entering or leaving
a shop To understand where the shop entrance is (7)
To avoid crashing into other people (5)
To understand that there are shops (2)
To find the shop that I am looking for (2)
Car brake To understand that there is a traffic light (4)
To estimate where the traffic light is and thus where there is a
pedestrian crossing (3)
To understand the direction of the cars (1)
Vehicle horn To avoid a car (4)
(cont.)
environment, avoid moving obstacles and
possible hazards, and cross streets. The
types of auditory cues used for waynd-
ing varied. The vast majority of the audi-
tory cues reported in the top 10 list are
related to sounds produced by machines
(including street trafc, cars, buses, taxis,
horns, car brakes, and construction works
in progress), emphasizing their predomi-
nance in urban auditory environments. It
is interesting that the participants discrim-
inated between the sounds of cars and
taxis, probably because taxis in Thessa-
loniki use diesel engines (which are pro-
hibited for private vehicles) and therefore
produce a different sound. Three auditory
cues are related to human activities
(footsteps, people entering or leaving a
shop, and children playing in play-
grounds), and one sound is related to
natural sounds (ocean waves). The
sound of cars passing was cited as the
most frequent and useful sound and thus
as the most signicant sound used for
waynding. The auditory cues of people
entering or leaving a shop and children
playing in a playground are possibly
examples of everyday listening that fo-
cuses on events, rather than sounds.
Of particular interest is the fact that
sound coming from trafc controls with
APS, which is produced purposefully to
facilitate the O&M of individuals with
visual impairments, was cited as the sec-
ond most useful sound but did not appear
in the list of the top 10 auditory cues used
most frequently. This nding underlines
the importance of the APS used in trafc
controls and highlights the need for fur-
ther installation of APS in cities. More-
over, the interviews revealed interesting
information about sounds like car brakes
and vehicle horns. Even though such
sounds can be disorienting and annoying,
the participants argued that they can gain
important information for waynding
from them.
IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE
The ndings can improve auditory train-
ing by providing a catalog of the auditory
cues that individuals with visual impair-
ments consider to be the most important
for waynding. Qualitative data gathered
from the interviews provides additional
insights about the ways in which these
auditory cues are used. Such data can
inform training procedures, such as the
Table 1
(cont.)
Auditory cue
Reason for use and number of times reported
(in parentheses)
To understand where the street is (3)
If I hear vehicle horns many times, I understand that there is a busy
street (1)
Motorcycle To avoid the motorcycle (10)
To understand whether there is a one-way or a two-way street (3)
To locate the street (2)
To keep walking in a straight line parallel to the street (1)
To understand the direction of the street (1)
outdoor sensorium described by Wie-
ner and Lawson (1997). The ndings can
also enhance training that involves the
use of recorded sounds for improving au-
ditory skills. Although training with re-
corded sounds has several disadvantages,
it provides environmental sounds without
the confusing and hazardous conditions
of the actual environment. It also permits
group lessons that may have positive im-
pacts on the self-efcacy of the trainees
through interaction with other successful
students (Wiener & Lawson, 1997). In-
formation on the use and type of auditory
cues that are used for waynding could
also be used to develop new waynding
technologies that have the potential to
incorporate sensory information and thus
to provide new kinds of perception (Bald-
win, 2003). Finally, the ndings could
also inform the development of O&M
curricula to provide more targeted and
analytical guidelines for the use of spe-
cic auditory cues.
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Auditory Cues Used for Wayfinding

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