Wearables To Help Grandparents Find Their Way in the City

Older people like your grandparents often use paper maps to find their way in places they do not know well. But paper maps are not very adapted to older people because the text and details are small and difficult to interpret. New technologies could offer better options. Wearable technologies could be an interesting alternative. In this study, we tested three wearables (a smartwatch, augmented reality sunglasses, and a bone-conduction headset) with a group of older people in the Paris streets around our laboratory. We compared the time it took people to get to their destinations, and the number of errors they made along the way, using either wearables or a map. We also asked people about what they liked about the wearables and how they felt. Do you want to know which method was the best? Keep reading!