In relation to visually impaired people moving safely, an exploration of stakeholders' perspectives in the context of the current status of need, practice and experience of use of assistive technologies is presented. Rapid acquisition of domain knowledge through consultative non-research processes, is reported as a prelude to researching stakeholder perspectives. It is noted that while the small numbers who volunteered would not be expected to generate authoritative generalisable findings, in fact in relation to the design goal and the depth of analysis, they actually reflect well the current state-of-the-art understanding. Other findings of import include : the apparent hostility of professionals and some end users to new electronic assistive technology - apparently underpinned by poor historical experiences; the potential inference is that haptic and other electronic aids for safe movement have to deliver simple-to-use solutions that really offer significant advantages over the use of a white canes or guide dogs.
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