Understanding Nature Engagement Experiences of Blind People

TL;DR

Understanding Nature Engagement Experiences of Blind People investigates how blindness shapes engagement with nature and how assistive technologies can support inclusive experiences. The study combines a comparative Nature Relatedness Scale survey (NRS) with 20 blind and 20 sighted participants and 16 in-depth interviews with blind participants, revealing lower overall nature relatedness among blind individuals. The qualitative findings show that safety, limited environmental cues, and multisensory strategies structure engagement, while strong emotional connectedness coexists with constrained ecological awareness. Based on these insights, the paper proposes design implications for personalized, multisensory, and context-aware technologies that augment information access, immersive experiences, and memory recording, while preserving authenticity and autonomy. Together, the work lays a foundation for technologies that support safer, richer, and more inclusive nature engagement for blind people.

Abstract

Nature plays a crucial role in human health and well-being, but little is known about how blind people experience and relate to it. We conducted a survey of nature relatedness with blind (N=20) and sighted (N=20) participants, along with in-depth interviews with 16 blind participants, to examine how blind people engage with nature and the factors shaping this engagement. Our survey results revealed lower levels of nature relatedness among blind participants compared to sighted peers. Our interview study further highlighted: 1) current practices and challenges of nature engagement, 2) attitudes and values that shape engagement, and 3) expectations for assistive technologies that support safe and meaningful engagement. We also provide design implications to guide future technologies that support nature engagement for blind people. Overall, our findings illustrate how blind people experience nature beyond vision and lay a foundation for technologies that support inclusive nature engagement.

Figures (2)

• Figure 1: Group differences in NRS subscales and the overall NR score. Error bars show standard deviations. Asterisks indicate significant group differences (Mann--Whitney U tests; * $p < .05$, ** $p < .01$, *** $p < .001$).
• Figure 1: Item-level mean scores for the 21 Nature Relatedness Scale (NRS) items, comparing blind and sighted participants. Error bars show standard deviations. Asterisks indicate significant group differences (Mann–Whitney U tests; * $p < .05$, ** $p < .01$, *** $p < .001$). Item numbers correspond to Appendix A, Table \ref{['tab:nrs_items']}.