Achievement

Julio Mateo (IGERT Fellow) conducted an extensive field investigation at Louisiana Technical University in Ruston Louisiana as part of his dissertation research aimed at developing cognitive requirements for improved technologies to assist blind travelers. The Louisiana Center for the Blind at Louisiana Tech program uniquely specializes in training blind individuals as orientation and mobility instructors for other blind persons wishing to learn cane travel skills. Julio?s 6-week data collection effort was designed to gain a better understanding of how experts travel without vision in naturalistic settings using interviews, think-aloud problem solving, and observations of travelers during training. As part of the work, he underwent an extended immersion experience under blindfold to gain firsthand insights about the perceptual and cognitive cues and processes that underlie successful blind travel performance.