Gap crossing decisions in the sighted and visually impaired

Sighted and visually impaired individuals judged whether a gap before them in a raised walkway could be walked across using artificial canes of 3 lengths. Little difference was found between the participant groups in either the number of errors or the typical gap sizes that were judged to be crossable. More errors were committed by participants exploring with the longest probes, but the probe length did not systematically predict judged crossability boundaries. Results imply that some simple aspects of locomotion without vision do not require significant experience.