Nature plays a crucial role in human health and well-being, but little is known about how blind people experience and relate to it. We conducted a survey of nature relatedness with blind (N=20) and sighted (N=20) participants, along with in-depth interviews with 16 blind participants, to examine how blind people engage with nature and the factors shaping this engagement. Our survey results revealed lower levels of nature relatedness among blind participants compared to sighted peers. Our interview study further highlighted: 1) current practices and challenges of nature engagement, 2) attitudes and values that shape engagement, and 3) expectations for assistive technologies that support safe and meaningful engagement. We also provide design implications to guide future technologies that support nature engagement for blind people. Overall, our findings illustrate how blind people experience nature beyond vision and lay a foundation for technologies that support inclusive nature engagement.

翻译：自然对人类健康与福祉具有至关重要的作用，然而关于盲人如何体验并与自然建立联系的认知仍十分有限。本研究通过开展自然关联度调查（盲人参与者N=20，视力正常参与者N=20）以及对16位盲人参与者的深度访谈，探究盲人参与自然的方式及影响其参与的因素。调查结果显示，盲人参与者的自然关联度水平低于视力正常的对照组。访谈研究进一步揭示了：1）当前自然参与的实践模式与面临的挑战；2）影响参与行为的态度与价值观；3）对辅助技术支持安全且有意义的自然参与的期待。本研究还提出了设计启示，以指导未来支持盲人自然参与的技术开发。总体而言，我们的研究阐明了盲人如何超越视觉维度体验自然，并为支持包容性自然参与的技术奠定了理论基础。