A ‘Musical Pathway’ for Spacially Disoriented Blind Residents of a Skilled Nursing Facility

The Auditory Directional System provides a “musical pathway” for blind persons to follow to get to interior destinations in an institutional setting. The system's components are a compact disc player and a network of speakers, infrared “people” detection equipment, and a computer-controlled speaker-sequencing system. To engage the Auditory Directional System, the blind resident pushes a centrally located button for a particular destination. When the person arrives at the first musical cue, infrared sensors detect the person and activate the next speaker. The person's presence continues to activate each subsequent speaker until he or she reaches the final destination. To trigger the detection process, the resident's clothing is equipped with retro-reflective tape This article describes the equipment—its purpose and how it works—and the results of a field test with three residents at a skilled nursing facility.