People with visual impairments face numerous obstacles in their daily lives. Due to these obstacles, people with visual impairments face a variety of physical privacy concerns. Researchers have recently studied how emerging technologies, such as wearable devices, can help these concerns. In the paper ‘Addressing Physical Safety, Security, and Privacy for People with Visual Impairments’ we conduct 19 interviews with participants who have visual impairments in the greater San Francisco metropolitan area. Our participants’ detailed accounts illuminated three topics related to physical privacy. The first is the safety and security concerns of people with visual impairments in urban environments, such as feared and actual instances of assault. The second being their behaviors and strategies for protecting physical safety. The last being refined design considerations for future wearable devices that could enhance their awareness of surrounding threats.
