I am currently updating this entire site (including CV, bibliography and publications). For information on current research please visit my blog: CASA & RLSB: Spatial Cognition & Low Vision

England has a significant number of visually impaired individuals who interact on a daily basis with an environment, which is little responsive to their needs. In general, cities lack the necessary infrastructure and amenities that would facilitate the navigation of this population. The improvement of this infrastructure and the implementation of travelling aids depend on our ability to understand this population’s conception of space.

My research will concentrate on the perception and cognition of space by the congenitally blind. That is, the manner in which this population understands and mentally organizes different elements of the environment in order to navigate through space. It is often assumed that the visually impaired will develop less accurate cognitive maps. This ‘deficiency’ view is perhaps the main reason for the neglect of this population’s needs in the organization of city space. My aim is to elaborate on the ‘difference’ position. To advance the view that the congenitally blind are able to develop cognitive maps and configurational knowledge, but that these representations are constructed and structured based on tactile, proprioceptive and auditory senses.

The difference theory holds that lack of vision will only affect the speed configurational knowledge of an environment can be generated. I will argue that given sufficient training and experience, a type of familiarity with the environment develops which allows the congenitally blind to process accurate representations of the space they are navigating through. In order to achieve this, I will study the flow of spatial information from the environment to memory and its eventual translation into behaviour. In other words, how tactile and auditory information are encoded, processed and decoded. Finally, the research will also expand on the role of the hippocampus in the storing and representation of spatial information.

A correct analysis of the development of cognitive maps depends on a complementary understanding of the neural, psychological and spatial variables involved in its formation. Working with Dr. Michael Batty, director of the Centre for Advanced Spatial Analysis, Professor Bill Hillier course director of Advanced Architectural Studies and UCL’s Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience my research will benefit from the constructive synergy the marriage of these disciplines entails. I have already established contact with UCL and ADKC (Action Disability Kensington and Chelsea) volunteer services where I will be attending outings with the visually impaired who will also serve as subjects for my research. I hope my research will allow for a more complete understanding of the relationship between perception, cognition, and wayfinding. That it will not only raise awareness of the needs of the visually impaired, but also push for change and recognition in future city design.