Runyan
A running companion for blind and low-vision runners
Running feels simple for most people: step outside, press play, and go. But, for many blind and low‑vision runners, it usually means finding a guide, clipping into a tether, or staying on a memorized loop.
Even elite athletes like Paralympian and Olympian Marla Runyan have had to run with support, which says more about our infrastructure than their capability.
- 2.2B+ people live with some form of visual impairment worldwide, yet most don't meet basic physical‑activity guidelines.
- In studies of visually impaired runners, almost all rely on human guides, tethers, or tightly controlled routes to run at all.
- Meanwhile, we already have LiDAR wearables, spatial audio, and real‑time navigation tech — but almost none of it is built around blind runners' needs.
Our team asked a focused question: what would it take to turn those technologies into a running companion that gives blind and low‑vision athletes true independence — not just accommodation?
Runyan is a wearable running companion that layers real-time sensing and multi-modal feedback — spatial audio, haptic taps, and minimal voice — so blind and low-vision runners can run independently, without relying on a human guide.
Running Shouldn't Require Another Person
Running feels simple for most people: step outside, press play, and go. But, for many blind and low‑vision runners, it usually means finding a guide, clipping into a tether, or staying on a memorized loop.
Even elite athletes like Paralympian and Olympian Marla Runyan have had to run with support, which says more about our infrastructure than their capability.
- 2.2B+ people live with some form of visual impairment worldwide, yet most don't meet basic physical‑activity guidelines.
- In studies of visually impaired runners, almost all rely on human guides, tethers, or tightly controlled routes to run at all.
- Meanwhile, we already have LiDAR wearables, spatial audio, and real‑time navigation tech — but almost none of it is built around blind runners' needs.
Our team asked a focused question: what would it take to turn those technologies into a running companion that gives blind and low‑vision athletes true independence — not just accommodation?
Two Missing Pieces
Across interviews and personas, the same two missing pieces appeared:
- Real-time awareness of surroundings — obstacles, turns, other runners, vehicles, and path edges.
- A reliable way to stay on route — without constantly stopping, interpreting instructions, or asking for help.
The impact goes beyond convenience:
- Safety — avoiding collisions and sudden hazards.
- Consistency — being able to train when they want, not just when a guide is available.
- Autonomy — feeling like the run is theirs, not supervised or managed by someone else.
What already exists
The team mapped current options and their limits:
- GPS-based wearables — provide rough direction but don't “see” the bench, pothole, or cyclist directly ahead.
- Human-guided approaches — guides and tethers are effective but require coordination and reinforce dependency.
- Environment-based systems — pre-marked routes and controlled environments work only in specific spaces and don't generalize to everyday running.
Each addresses one slice of the experience. None delivers the feeling of “I can decide to run now and go alone.”
From Experiments to Interaction Model
Two questions guided the design:
- How can a runner gain real-time awareness of what's around them?
- How can guidance be delivered without breaking their rhythm?
To explore this, the team ran simple experiments with blindfolded participants on improvised tracks and obstacle layouts, trying different mixes of audio cues and alerts.
Directional sound quickly emerged as the most intuitive pattern: people could feel which way to move without explicit commands.
Participants were able to:
- Adjust direction based solely on where the sound came from.
- Stay roughly centered on a path.
- Respond quickly when the audio shifted.
That insight became the foundation of Runyan's interaction model.
Three Layers of Awareness
Runyan is a wearable running companion that layers sensing and multi-modal feedback so blind and low-vision runners can run independently.
1. Real-Time Sensing
Sensors such as LiDAR and cameras (on the headset or paired device) build a live picture of the environment:
- Detect obstacles and moving objects like runners, cyclists, or cars.
- Recognize path boundaries on tracks, sidewalks, and trails.
- Update continuously as the runner moves, rather than relying only on pre-mapped data.
This layer answers: what's happening around me right now?
2. Spatial Audio Guidance
Guidance lives in the sound field instead of constant voice commands:
- Audio is centered when the runner is on path.
- If they drift left, sound shifts slightly right; drifting right shifts sound left.
- For turns, audio smoothly arcs so the runner “follows” the sound through the curve.
This keeps runners in rhythm and turns guidance into intuitive micro-adjustments, not instructions.
3. Secondary Feedback
A lighter layer steps in only when needed:
- Subtle alerts — brief tones or haptic taps in the headband — signal important events or boundaries.
- Minimal voice interactions handle control and exceptional situations: “Start run,” “Pause,” or “Stop.”
Together, these layers create a continuous, ambient interaction. The runner rarely needs to pause or consciously interpret; they just move.
What a Run Feels Like
On a typical session:
- The runner puts on the Runyan headband and says, “Start run.”
- Spatial audio anchors the intended path, and the runner naturally adjusts as the sound shifts.
- When something important appears — an obstacle, a cyclist, the edge of a lane — a brief alert nudges them just enough to react.
- The run becomes one fluid experience instead of a series of start-stop negotiations.
Personas that guided the design
Each perspective reinforced the need for guidance that feels ambient, trustworthy, and low-cognitive-load.
Principles That Shaped Runyan
Audio first, voice second
Spatial cues take the lead; spoken instructions are reserved for rare, high-value events to keep mental load low and preserve flow.
Real-time sensing over GPS alone
GPS is too coarse to keep runners safe around dynamic obstacles, so the system emphasizes sensors that understand the immediate environment.
No human in the loop by default
Guides and partners are intentionally excluded from the core flow so that independence — not assistance — is the primary outcome.
Each choice was tested against one question: does this make a solo run feel more or less attainable?
Who Else Runyan Can Serve
While the first focus is blind and low-vision runners, the same system can extend to:
- Night and low-visibility runners who want an extra safety layer.
- Music-first runners who enjoy full immersion but still need strong situational awareness.
- Athletes who want form and posture feedback layered on top of navigation.
This gives Runyan a path from focused accessibility product to a broader safety and performance platform.
What the team would explore next
- Sensing in crowded environments — keeping detection reliable when paths are busy and noisy.
- Feedback tuning — letting runners choose how “chatty” or quiet cues should be, and adapting over time.
- Personalization — adjusting thresholds and patterns based on each runner's style, speed, and comfort level.
What Runyan Taught Us
Runyan pushed the team to think differently about:
- Real-time systems — products that must sense, decide, and respond continuously while users are in motion.
- Minimal interaction design — shaping feedback so runners stay inside the run instead of constantly managing the product.
- Independence as a success metric — treating autonomy itself as the central outcome, not an optional extra.