A Study on Tactile Walking Surface

Indication at StaircasesHisato OHNO 1), Ayako SUZUKI 1), Daisuke

SUZUKI 1)

Toru TAKAHASHI 2), Daisuke SAWADA 2)

Masaki TAUCHI 3), Tetsuo AKIYAMA 4)

TRANSED 2012 New Delhi

1) Railway Technical Research Institute, Tokyo, JAPAN2) ECOMO Foundation, Tokyo, JAPAN3) Okayama Prefectural University, Okayama, JAPAN4) Hokusei Gakuen University, Hokkaido, JAPAN

TWSIs of attention pattern should be installed at staircases, where the risk of falling by thevisually impaired persons is highly anticipated.

TWSIs(tactile walking surface indicators) of attention (warning) and guiding pattern have been proved useful in the past decades in providing travel information for visually impaired persons.

BACKGROUND

In Japan, there are two guidelines for installation of attention TWSIs at staircases. Some inconsistency between them can be seen as is shown below.

1. One guideline requires installation of TWSIs both at the top and bottom of staircases, but the other requires only at the top. (Necessity)2. Whereas these guideline recommend put the setback of about 30 cm, neither of them specifies the depth of TWSIs. (size of setback and depth of TWSIs)3. Neither mentions installation of TWSIs on intermediate landings of staircases (Necessity)

Questions about Installation of Attention TWSIs at Staircase

To answer to the questions about installation of TWSIs at staircases, we conducted two experiments.

EXPERIMENT 1To investigate the needs for the installation of attention TWSIs at the top and bottom of staircases and the dimensions of TWSIs to be installed. EXPERIMENT 2To investigate the needs for the installation of attention as well as guiding TWSIs at the intermediate landing of staircases

PURPOSES

EXPERIMENT 1Needs for TWSIs and Optimal

layout of TWSIs at the top and bottom of

staircases

OBJECTIVES of Experiment 1

2: Should TWSI be installed at the bottom of staircases?

1: What is the optimal layout, depth and setback, of TWSIs at staircases? 　

METHOSSubjects

• TWSIs of attention pattern to be compliant to JIS T 9251 (2001) and ISO 23599 (2012) were used.

• 38 blind & 3 low vision• Height: 160.6 ± 10.0 cm• Shoe size: 24.7 ± 1.6 cm• Subjects’ qualification was to do

independent travel frequently using train services.

TWSIs

METHODS

A mockup of staircase was built indoor. It had an intermediate landing between a pair of flights, upper and lower, of 5 steps staircases.

Experimental setup

Intermediate landing5

5

600 (562)

Layout Astairs

300 (319)

300 (262)

Layout B

300 (319)

600 (562)

Layout C

(none)

Layout D

Layout of TWSIs; 4 layouts were examined.

Unit: mm

METHODS

*numbers in parentheses reveal effective dimensions

Top or bottom of the staircase

Setback

Depth

METHODS

Top

Bottom

Experimental Procedure

End of Descent

(EOD)Approach to Ascend (ATA)

Approach to Descend (ATD)

RESULTS

DescendingApproach to Descend (ATD)

Comparison of the layouts of TWSIs at the top of the staircase

RESULTS

AscendingApproach to Ascend (ATA)

DescendingEnd of Descent (EOD)

Comparison of the layouts of TWSIs at the bottom of the staircase

SUMMARY of Experiment 1Ans. 1: Setback of 30cm and depth of 60cm seemed to be suitable at the top of staircases. At the bottom of staircases, 30cm setback and 60cm depth was also better for descending direction. The same was true for ascending direction though the need for the depth was not stringent. Ans. 2: Installation of TWSIs at the bottom of staircases was found to be necessary though the need for depth dimension was divisive.

EXPERIMENT 2Relationship between the degree of desire of TWSIs presence and

the length of intermediate landings

OBJECTIVES of Experiment 2

1: Is it necessary to install attention TWSIs on both ends of intermediate landings?

2: If there is a desire of TWSIs installation, how the relationship between the necessity and the length of intermediate landing

METHODS Experimental setupA staircase mockup was made and the length

of the intermediate landing was changeable.The length to be examined were 1.5, 2.5, 3.5, 4.5, 5.5, 6.5, and 7.5 m respectively.

Long vs Short

Intermediate landing

TLF

BUF

55

No TWSIs were applied in this experiment.

METHODS Procedure

The same subjects as Experiment 1 participated.

Their need for attention pattern both at the bottom of the upper flight (BUF) and at the top of the lower flight (TLF) on intermediate landing respectively were studied after climb down stairs through the intermediate landings of various length

Bottom of Upper Flight (BUF)

RESULTS TWSIs(Attention Pattern)

Top of Lower Flight (TLF)

Intermediate LandingIntermediate Landing? ?

SUMMARY of Experiment 2Ans. 1: The results indicated that the installation of TWSIs for both the bottom of upper flights and the top of lower flights is desirable but the rate of such desire changed as a function of the length of intermediate landing.Ans. 2: The relationship between the desire of TWSIs installation and the length of the intermediate landing showed that TWSIs installation is necessary when the length of intermediate landing exceed 2.5m at the bottom of upper flights and 1.8m at the top of lower flights.

CONCLUSION1. In the 1st experiment, it was found that TWSIs of

attention pattern are necessary for both of the top and bottom of staircase.

2. It also showed that 30cm setback and 60cm depth were desirable.

3. In the 2nd experiment, it was found that TWSIs are necessary to install at the bottom of a upper flight on intermediate landings when it is longer than 2.5m.

4. It also showed that the desire for installation of TWSIs is much stronger in case of the top of a lower flight than the bottom of a upper flight.

5. Further investigation by low vision subjects will be needed to obtain more detailed layout of TWSIs installation

Thank you for your attention