Revision 7T · Full Tutorial Edition · Updated 1 September 2026
PWR-218 · SUPERVISED full tutorial
Work with an audiology or accessibility professional to learn one spatial-audio cue system
This provider-controlled spatial-audio evaluation starts with a user-valued doorway task; preserves cane use; locks Map v3, room, cue set plus volume; teaches three stationary sounds; checks speech masking plus device loss; weighs localisation against workload. It never teaches unsupervised navigation.
What you will produceLearner plus orientation-and-mobility professional produce a versioned Map v3 record showing cue-localisation errors, contacts or near misses, workload, cane use plus a stationary fallback after audio loss.
Method8 numbered Power-specific steps
Practice authorityFull method with qualified supervision where stated
Full step-by-step individual tutorial · TLU-PWR-218
Learner plus orientation-and-mobility professional produce a versioned Map v3 record showing cue-localisation errors, contacts or near misses, workload, cane use plus a stationary fallback after audio loss.
Define a user-valued goal, describe current aids and ask the provider how each cue is mapped.
Practise only the provider-cleared task in the provider-controlled room with ordinary aids retained.
Stop, report discomfort or reject a device configuration that is not useful.
Qualified help is required for
Hearing, vision, balance and mobility assessment; device fitting; cue-level selection and progression.
Any walking route, obstacle course, street, workplace or public-space trial.
Interpretation of tinnitus, dizziness, falls, sensory changes or other clinical concerns.
Never do this from the page alone
Blindfold yourself, remove a cane, guide dog, sighted guide or other established aid to test the device.
Use headphones or spatial cues in traffic, near stairs, platforms, water or moving machinery unless the accountable specialist explicitly controls the exact task.
Treat a sighted-blindfolded prototype result as evidence that the system works for blind or low-vision users.
2 · Get ready
Gather what you need and check the starting conditions
What you need
The provider-selected spatial-audio device and documented software/mapping version.
A quiet, controlled room with soft stationary targets, an ordinary-aid route and an immediate physical stop.
A localisation sheet, workload scale, cue-error log and manual/ordinary-aid fallback.
Before you start
Give the provider the exact task, hearing/vision/mobility history, current aids, sensory tolerances and preferred communication.
Agree who can stop the trial, what symptoms stop it and what happens if sound or tracking fails.
Record the room layout, cue set, volume limit, latency check, ordinary aids, helper position and maximum number of trials.
3 · The method
Follow these steps in order
Choose one functional target
With the provider, name one low-consequence target, such as locating a stationary doorway cue in a controlled room, and state what is not being tested.
Why: A narrow target prevents “better navigation” from hiding task and user differences.
Check: Goal fields name user, cue, room, aid, success measure plus non-goals.
Record the ordinary-aid baseline
Complete a provider-cleared doorway task using normal aids without augmentation; record contacts, localisation error, time plus workload.
Why: The device must be compared with the user’s real supported performance, not with removed support.
Check: A dated baseline records ordinary aids and no one is blindfolded.
Fit and explain the mapping
Provider locks device settings, then teaches which sound feature means left, right, distance or stop; learner repeats each mapping in a preferred format.
Why: A misunderstood cue can be more dangerous than no cue.
Check: The learner can point, say or demonstrate every cue meaning before moving.
Check sound and tracking quality
While stationary, confirm comfortable volume, ear access, latency, tracking field and whether speech, alarms or ambient sounds remain detectable.
Why: Masking, delay and lost tracking can erase or reverse benefit.
Check: The provider records acceptable settings and a visible device-failure signal.
Run single-cue trials
From a marked start, identify one stationary cue at a time; move only after provider confirmation that room plus response are ready.
Why: Isolating cues exposes systematic left/right or distance confusion before a route is attempted.
Check: At least eight trials have cue identity, response, error, replay and symptom fields.
Combine cue and ordinary aid
Complete the approved short room task while keeping the cane, guide, handrail or other ordinary support in its usual role.
Why: Augmentation should add information rather than demand unsafe aid removal.
Check: Learner retains cane use plus stops whenever a cue remains unclear.
Test the failure fallback
Provider announces simulated device-off while learner remains stationary; learner stops, then returns to an agreed cane or human-support option.
Why: A useful system needs a safe response to battery, tracking or audio loss.
Check: Learner recognises audio loss, stays still plus reaches an agreed fallback without guessing.
Compare benefit and burden
Compare Map v3 against cane-only baseline for errors, contacts, time, workload, speech masking plus user value; name every configuration field in conclusions.
Why: Slower performance may still be valuable, and fewer contacts may come with unacceptable workload.
Check: The record ends with continue, adapt, reject or seek further assessment and gives reasons.
4 · Worked example
See the whole method used once
Scenario
An adult and an orientation-and-mobility professional evaluate a prototype that uses three sounds to indicate a stationary doorway’s left, centre or right position in a quiet training room.
Walkthrough
They record an ordinary-cane baseline of six doorway identifications, with one wrong side and workload 2/10.
Professional fits Map v3 at a comfortable level, verifies audible speech, then teaches three cue meanings while learner remains stationary.
Across nine single-cue trials, learner scores 7/9 after confusing left versus centre twice; professional widens spatial separation without raising volume, followed by a 3/3 pair retest.
Cane remains in use during a short approved route: no contact, workload 6/10. A device-off signal then prompts stationary stop plus cane fallback.
Result
Cane baseline was 5/6, mixed cue block 7/9, repaired pair 3/3; these small unmatched blocks establish no improvement. Reported workload moved from 2/10 to 6/10. Another professional trial is needed; nothing here shows street mobility, sight, aid replacement or durable learning.
5 · Right and wrong
Compare correct or safer execution with the common wrong version
Right and wrong comparison
Moment
Right / safer
Wrong / riskier
Why it matters
Setting the goal
Use one user-valued cue task and record ordinary aids.
Ask whether the device gives “sonar vision.”
A mythical goal erases measurable doorway performance, cane use plus Map v3 configuration.
Comparing performance
Compare device-on with ordinary supported performance.
Blindfold a sighted person or remove the intended user’s aid to create a dramatic contrast.
Support removal creates a misleading and unsafe comparator.
A cue is unclear
Stop, identify a confused cue pair, then let provider alter its mapping.
Keep walking and guess so the trial is completed.
Guessing converts a mapping error into a collision risk.
Device failure
Stop and use the agreed ordinary-aid or human fallback.
Try to finish from memory because the route looked easy.
A familiar controlled route does not validate failure handling elsewhere.
6 · Common mistakes
Spot the error and apply the correction
Common mistakes and corrections
Mistake
Fix
Adding spatial-audio cues before discrimination is stable.
Return to two or three well-separated cues and add one only after provider-scored discrimination is stable.
Raising volume instead of separating spatial-audio mappings.
Improve mapping separation or reduce background complexity; do not raise volume beyond the provider-set comfort limit.
Testing spatial audio with normal hearing aids removed.
Repeat comparison with normal aids restored; label any unsupported trial invalid.
Generalising a controlled-room result to street navigation.
Report a room- plus mapping-specific result; require separate authorisation for any new environment.
Scoring contacts while ignoring workload, masking and latency.
Record workload, audio masking, latency, fallback use and user value alongside contacts.
7 · Practice
Turn the steps into a usable skill
First session
Agree doorway task, stopping rule plus cane-only baseline with provider.
Learn the cue set while stationary and complete up to nine single-cue trials.
Repair the largest cue confusion and repeat three matched stationary trials.
Complete only the approved short room task with ordinary aids retained.
Demonstrate the stationary device-failure response and decide continue, adapt or reject.
Repeat plan
Qualified provider sets block length plus spacing. Record one short block per Map v3 configuration; repeat another day only after comfort plus device-off response pass. Any new device, cue mapping, volume, room or mobility aid requires a fresh cane-only baseline.
Progress when
Learner identifies every cue meaning plus device-off signal before movement.
Localisation error improves without worse contacts, masking, symptoms or unacceptable workload.
The learner reliably stops and returns to ordinary aids when sound or tracking is lost.
Do not progress when
Tinnitus, ear pain, dizziness, headache, nausea, disorientation or increased fall risk appears.
The cue masks speech, alarms or environmental sounds needed for safety.
Benefit appears only when ordinary aids are removed or the route is memorised.
8 · Check the result
Measure what changed
Provider-controlled task performance for one versioned spatial-audio configuration
How: Record cue-localisation error, wrong-side response, contact, near miss, time, cane use, workload, speech masking, symptoms plus fallback success for cane-only versus Map v3 blocks.
Good result: A good result shows a user-valued improvement without increased contact, masking, symptoms or failed fallback, and is reproducible in a matched provider session.
This does not prove: It does not prove sight, general navigation competence, street safety, superiority to a cane or guide dog, or benefit for another user.
Self-check
Can you state what each sound means and how device failure is signalled?
Can you show the fallback without taking a step after an unclear or missing cue?
Does the report compare the device with normal supported performance?
Can you name what this room result cannot say about public mobility?
9 · Stop, adapt or get help
Keep the safety boundary practical
Stop and get help
Stop immediately for ear pain, tinnitus change, dizziness, nausea, headache, panic, disorientation, a stumble or any collision.
Stop when tracking, audio, battery status, supervision or the clear room boundary is lost.
Seek the appropriate audiology, low-vision, mobility or clinical review before changing the device or interpreting a new symptom.
Accessibility and adaptations
Keep cane, guide dog, human guide, hearing aids and preferred communication in the configuration.
Offer a tactile or spoken explanation of the room and cue map before trials; do not require visual diagrams.
Allow seated cue-identification trials, rest and a smaller cue set when movement or sensory load is a barrier.
10 · Evidence and limits
Why these instructions are here
primary research
A spatial-sonification prototype reduced obstacle contacts in a very small feasibility study of blindfolded sighted adults; it did not establish benefit for blind or low-vision users or dependable navigation.
Only the accountable provider may decide fitting, progression and real-environment testing.
A controlled-room result remains user-, device-, mapping-, aid- and room-specific.
Spatial audio is an augmentation, not sight and not permission to remove established aids.
A sighted-blindfolded prototype study cannot establish sight, safe street mobility or replacement of established aids.
The feasibility study tested no blind/low-vision user; participants were slower when assisted, and no evidence establishes street navigation, superiority to established aids, audio-masking tolerance or safe device failure.
Progress is saved only in this browser on this device.
Step-by-step learner mode
Each activity includes its success check, a nearby accessible alternative and an “I’m stuck” correction path. Alternatives preserve the target where possible; when they change the task, Titan labels them as related rather than equivalent.
01
Choose one functional target
With the provider, name one low-consequence target, such as locating a stationary doorway cue in a controlled room, and state what is not being tested.
Why this step exists
A narrow target prevents “better navigation” from hiding task and user differences.
Success check
Goal fields name user, cue, room, aid, success measure plus non-goals.
I’m stuck on this step
Reset: Re-read this authored instruction — “With the provider, name one low-consequence target, such as locating a stationary doorway cue in a controlled room, and state what is not being tested.” — and its success check, then attempt only this step.
Possible snag: Generalising a controlled-room result to street navigation.
Correction: Report a room- plus mapping-specific result; require separate authorisation for any new environment.
Stop / get help: Stop immediately for ear pain, tinnitus change, dizziness, nausea, headache, panic, disorientation, a stumble or any collision.
02
Record the ordinary-aid baseline
Complete a provider-cleared doorway task using normal aids without augmentation; record contacts, localisation error, time plus workload.
Why this step exists
The device must be compared with the user’s real supported performance, not with removed support.
Success check
A dated baseline records ordinary aids and no one is blindfolded.
I’m stuck on this step
Reset: Re-read this authored instruction — “Complete a provider-cleared doorway task using normal aids without augmentation; record contacts, localisation error, time plus workload.” — and its success check, then attempt only this step.
Possible snag: Testing spatial audio with normal hearing aids removed.
Correction: Repeat comparison with normal aids restored; label any unsupported trial invalid.
Stop / get help: Stop immediately for ear pain, tinnitus change, dizziness, nausea, headache, panic, disorientation, a stumble or any collision.
03
Fit and explain the mapping
Provider locks device settings, then teaches which sound feature means left, right, distance or stop; learner repeats each mapping in a preferred format.
Why this step exists
A misunderstood cue can be more dangerous than no cue.
Success check
The learner can point, say or demonstrate every cue meaning before moving.
I’m stuck on this step
Reset: Re-read this authored instruction — “Provider locks device settings, then teaches which sound feature means left, right, distance or stop; learner repeats each mapping in a preferred format.” — and its success check, then attempt only this step.
Possible snag: Raising volume instead of separating spatial-audio mappings.
Correction: Improve mapping separation or reduce background complexity; do not raise volume beyond the provider-set comfort limit.
Stop / get help: Stop immediately for ear pain, tinnitus change, dizziness, nausea, headache, panic, disorientation, a stumble or any collision.
04
Check sound and tracking quality
While stationary, confirm comfortable volume, ear access, latency, tracking field and whether speech, alarms or ambient sounds remain detectable.
Why this step exists
Masking, delay and lost tracking can erase or reverse benefit.
Success check
The provider records acceptable settings and a visible device-failure signal.
I’m stuck on this step
Reset: Re-read this authored instruction — “While stationary, confirm comfortable volume, ear access, latency, tracking field and whether speech, alarms or ambient sounds remain detectable.” — and its success check, then attempt only this step.
Possible snag: The result from “While stationary, confirm comfortable volume, ear access, latency, tracking field and whether speech, alarms or ambient sounds remain detectable.” does not yet meet this declared check: The provider records acceptable settings and a visible device-failure signal.
Correction: Return to the start of “Check sound and tracking quality”, reduce complexity or pace, and repeat only the part needed to satisfy: “The provider records acceptable settings and a visible device-failure signal.”
Stop / get help: Stop immediately for ear pain, tinnitus change, dizziness, nausea, headache, panic, disorientation, a stumble or any collision.
05
Run single-cue trials
From a marked start, identify one stationary cue at a time; move only after provider confirmation that room plus response are ready.
Why this step exists
Isolating cues exposes systematic left/right or distance confusion before a route is attempted.
Success check
At least eight trials have cue identity, response, error, replay and symptom fields.
I’m stuck on this step
Reset: Re-read this authored instruction — “From a marked start, identify one stationary cue at a time; move only after provider confirmation that room plus response are ready.” — and its success check, then attempt only this step.
Possible snag: Adding spatial-audio cues before discrimination is stable.
Correction: Return to two or three well-separated cues and add one only after provider-scored discrimination is stable.
Stop / get help: Stop immediately for ear pain, tinnitus change, dizziness, nausea, headache, panic, disorientation, a stumble or any collision.
06
Combine cue and ordinary aid
Complete the approved short room task while keeping the cane, guide, handrail or other ordinary support in its usual role.
Why this step exists
Augmentation should add information rather than demand unsafe aid removal.
Success check
Learner retains cane use plus stops whenever a cue remains unclear.
I’m stuck on this step
Reset: Re-read this authored instruction — “Complete the approved short room task while keeping the cane, guide, handrail or other ordinary support in its usual role.” — and its success check, then attempt only this step.
Possible snag: The result from “Complete the approved short room task while keeping the cane, guide, handrail or other ordinary support in its usual role.” does not yet meet this declared check: Learner retains cane use plus stops whenever a cue remains unclear.
Correction: Return to the start of “Combine cue and ordinary aid”, reduce complexity or pace, and repeat only the part needed to satisfy: “Learner retains cane use plus stops whenever a cue remains unclear.”
Stop / get help: Stop immediately for ear pain, tinnitus change, dizziness, nausea, headache, panic, disorientation, a stumble or any collision.
07
Test the failure fallback
Provider announces simulated device-off while learner remains stationary; learner stops, then returns to an agreed cane or human-support option.
Why this step exists
A useful system needs a safe response to battery, tracking or audio loss.
Success check
Learner recognises audio loss, stays still plus reaches an agreed fallback without guessing.
I’m stuck on this step
Reset: Re-read this authored instruction — “Provider announces simulated device-off while learner remains stationary; learner stops, then returns to an agreed cane or human-support option.” — and its success check, then attempt only this step.
Possible snag: The result from “Provider announces simulated device-off while learner remains stationary; learner stops, then returns to an agreed cane or human-support option.” does not yet meet this declared check: Learner recognises audio loss, stays still plus reaches an agreed fallback without guessing.
Correction: Return to the start of “Test the failure fallback”, reduce complexity or pace, and repeat only the part needed to satisfy: “Learner recognises audio loss, stays still plus reaches an agreed fallback without guessing.”
Stop / get help: Stop immediately for ear pain, tinnitus change, dizziness, nausea, headache, panic, disorientation, a stumble or any collision.
08
Compare benefit and burden
Compare Map v3 against cane-only baseline for errors, contacts, time, workload, speech masking plus user value; name every configuration field in conclusions.
Why this step exists
Slower performance may still be valuable, and fewer contacts may come with unacceptable workload.
Success check
The record ends with continue, adapt, reject or seek further assessment and gives reasons.
I’m stuck on this step
Reset: Re-read this authored instruction — “Compare Map v3 against cane-only baseline for errors, contacts, time, workload, speech masking plus user value; name every configuration field in conclusions.” — and its success check, then attempt only this step.
Possible snag: Scoring contacts while ignoring workload, masking and latency.
Correction: Record workload, audio masking, latency, fallback use and user value alongside contacts.
Stop / get help: Stop immediately for ear pain, tinnitus change, dizziness, nausea, headache, panic, disorientation, a stumble or any collision.
Correct versus incorrect execution
These accessible process diagrams are built from the tutorial’s own right/wrong teaching. They are not anatomical illustrations and do not add technique beyond the canonical tutorial.
Setting the goal — A mythical goal erases measurable doorway performance, cane use plus Map v3 configuration.
Correct / safer
Use one user-valued cue task and record ordinary aids.
Wrong / riskier
Ask whether the device gives “sonar vision.”
Comparing performance — Support removal creates a misleading and unsafe comparator.
Correct / safer
Compare device-on with ordinary supported performance.
Wrong / riskier
Blindfold a sighted person or remove the intended user’s aid to create a dramatic contrast.
A cue is unclear — Guessing converts a mapping error into a collision risk.
Correct / safer
Stop, identify a confused cue pair, then let provider alter its mapping.
Wrong / riskier
Keep walking and guess so the trial is completed.
Device failure — A familiar controlled route does not validate failure handling elsewhere.
Correct / safer
Stop and use the agreed ordinary-aid or human fallback.
Wrong / riskier
Try to finish from memory because the route looked easy.
Method-structure checklist
10 of 10 structural checks present
✓ Ordered, Power-specific instructions — present
✓ Every activity has a success check — present
✓ Materials or supplied records are declared — present
✓ Measurement or assessment rule is present — present
✓ Tutorial-specific troubleshooting is present — present
✓ Stopping or escalation boundary is present — present
✓ Every activity has an adjacent alternative — present
✓ Correct-versus-incorrect comparison is present — present
✓ Evidence context is bound to the Power record — present
✓ Planning metadata is present — present
The method-readiness band and presence checklist assess tutorial presentation and are separate from evidence quality for the underlying Power. They are automated editorial aids, not human approval.
Manual editorial sign-off: Pending. This tutorial must not display a human-approved state until an identified editor signs the exact content hash.