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How do sensory features of places impact on spatial exploration of people with autism? A user study

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  • Federica Cena

    (University of Torino)

  • Noemi Mauro

    (University of Torino)

  • Amon Rapp

    (University of Torino)

Abstract

Autism is characterized by peculiar sensory processing. The sensory features of a place may have a crucial impact on the decision a person with autism makes when choosing what to visit in a tourist experience. We present a map-based mobile app, conceived for people with mid to high-functioning autism, which exploits sensory features of places to filter the information displayed and suggest locations that may be suitable for their idiosyncratic needs. The mobile app also exploits the crowdmapping paradigm in order to gather these features from the community of users, since they are not publicly available. We describe the results of a composite user evaluation of the app, made up of a task experiment, a field study, and an online questionnaire, which aims to understand (i) whether the explicit presentation of sensory information impacts the decision of going to a specific place, (ii) if the crowdmapping functionality is used and how and (iii) how people with autism navigate the mobile app. The results confirm the importance of the sensory features for people with autism in the decision to go to a specific place. Moreover, they show that crowdmapping may be a good solution to collect such features, but should be integrated with other methods. Finally, the results show that the preferred modality of exploring information about places is by using the map.

Suggested Citation

  • Federica Cena & Noemi Mauro & Amon Rapp, 2023. "How do sensory features of places impact on spatial exploration of people with autism? A user study," Information Technology & Tourism, Springer, vol. 25(1), pages 105-132, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:infott:v:25:y:2023:i:1:d:10.1007_s40558-023-00244-1
    DOI: 10.1007/s40558-023-00244-1
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Francesco Ricci, 2022. "Recommender Systems in Tourism," Springer Books, in: Zheng Xiang & Matthias Fuchs & Ulrike Gretzel & Wolfram Höpken (ed.), Handbook of e-Tourism, chapter 19, pages 457-474, Springer.
    2. Gallardo Montes, Carmen del Pilar & Rodríguez Fuentes, Antonio & Caurcel Cara, María Jesús, 2021. "Apps for people with autism: Assessment, classification and ranking of the best," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    3. Brielle Gillovic & Alison McIntosh, 2020. "Accessibility and Inclusive Tourism Development: Current State and Future Agenda," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(22), pages 1-15, November.
    4. Small, Jennie & Darcy, Simon & Packer, Tanya, 2012. "The embodied tourist experiences of people with vision impairment: Management implications beyond the visual gaze," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 33(4), pages 941-950.
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    Cited by:

    1. Hongming Gao & Di Deng & Hongwei Liu & Zhouyang Liang, 2024. "Sequential framework for analyzing mobile click-through decision in online travel agency with user digital footprints," Information Technology & Tourism, Springer, vol. 26(4), pages 679-709, December.
    2. Yangyang Jiang & Cenhua Lyu & M.S. Balaji, 2025. "Progress in research on tourists with mental disorders: A critical review and the way forward," Post-Print hal-04778115, HAL.

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