Persuasive Technology for Leisure and Health: Development of a Personal Navigation Tool

Abstract

As the number and proportions of older people grow, those living in developed economies are increasingly likely to enjoy an active and healthy period of their life. During this time they are free to pursue old, and new, leisure interests and to travel around, both locally (often in towns, with the aid of concessionary, or free, travel passes) and to more distant places. Younger older people (up to age 75), people on higher incomes and people in better health are all more likely to move around more [1]. These trends are likely to increase in the future [2]. Meanwhile, technology developments in mobile telephony and geographic information systems are making it possible to locate the geographic position not only of vehicles and boats but also of people on foot [3]. These technical developments inspired the team working on this project to apply the sophisticated technology associated with Geographic Information Systems (GIS) , Global Positioning Systems (GPS) and Location Based Services (LBS) to address the pedestrian navigational needs of two groups of people who are frequently excluded from commercial design concerns. As well as older people, the research is addressing the needs of people with severe visual impairments. However, to date, the major thrust of fieldwork has focused on older people.