Bicyclists are increasingly shaping the picture of urban traffic. Modern navigation systems for this group of traffic participants do not offer a satisfying solution for guided navigation. On one hand, visual information is shifting the attention away from the traffic situation. On the other hand, voice instructions are perceived as distracting and the use of conventional headphones blocks the hearing of ambient sounds. Providing navigation instructions in form of vibrotactile stimuli instead of visual information and simple sounds over open-ear headphones instead of voice instructions can diminish these problems to a great extent.

This paper presents the design of a non-visual, multi-sensory navigation system for urban bicyclists. The aim is to explore how audio-tactile stimuli can replace audio-visual instructions and create a feeling of greater safety, enhancing the cycling experience.

The introduction of this paper gives information on background, relevant frameworks and theories. In Sect. 2 the methodology is presented. Section 3 describes the design process and Sect. 4 the test procedure of the final prototype as well as the test results. Section 5 and 6 cover discussion and conclusion