The Process of Perceiving the Physical Environment by Total Blind People Using Sensory and Subjective Perception

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Lecturer of Architecture and Environmental Design, Research Center for Housing and Urban Development, Tehran, Iran.

2 Professor of Architecture, Faculty of Fine Arts, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran (Corresponding Author).

10.22034/aaud.2021.269683.2408

Abstract

Congenitally blind people require finding solutions and relying on environmentally-compatible behaviors to understand and perceive their surrounding environment and acquire physical and social independence. In addition to their external senses, they need to use their internal senses of memory, imagination and subjective perception. Therefore, perception for these people is a kind of understanding the external world that comes from combing sensory data and thinking mechanisms and may differ from objective reality. This study aimed to respond to the question: “How is the perception of the environment made by congenitally total blind people?” For this, the study aimed to understand their process of environmental perception, which can be used as a better design foundation for the feasibility of greater presence in public spaces and the creation of equal chances for blind peoples, and also for providing them with unconstrained, safe and independent accessibility to the environment, disregard of their physical and sensory abilities. The present study fell under qualitative research in terms of nature and was an applied study in terms of goal. It also used a descriptive analytical procedure and qualitative content analysis, together with a deductive reasoning approach. Data were collected by investigating scientific documents and their qualitative content analysis. This study used the inferential method to investigate blind people’s process of the physical environmental perception through two sensory and subjective perception categories, and finally provided recommended solutions to facilitate the blind peoples’ perception within the urban environment. Findings revealed that total blind people use non-visual sensory perception as well as auditory, tactile, and kinetic visualization-based subjective perception, which is dependent on various individual, social and cultural factors, to perceive their surrounding environment. For this, it is critical to focus on these factors in designing the physical environment to help all people of the community, especially the blind, to perceive the environment and utilize the facilities contained in there.

Keywords

References

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Armanshahr Architecture & Urban Development
Volume 16, Issue 43 - Serial Number 43
September 2023
Pages 227-241

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History

  • Receive Date: 23 January 2021
  • Revise Date: 21 July 2021
  • Accept Date: 07 August 2021

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