Article

Towards a 2D tactile vocabulary for navigation of blind and visually impaired

Authors:

Dimitrios Dakopoulos,

Nikolaos BourbakisAuthors Info & Claims

SMC'09: Proceedings of the 2009 IEEE international conference on Systems, Man and Cybernetics

Pages 45 - 51

Published: 11 October 2009 Publication History

Abstract

In this paper we present research work towards a 2D tactile vocabulary for training visually impaired for their independent mobility. The vocabulary is associated to a 2D tactile array (vibration array), which is a part of a wearable navigation prototype (Electronic Travel Aid) called Tyflos. The vibration array is currently consisting of 16 vibrating elements arranged in a 4×4 manner. Each motor can be independently driven with square pulses of varying frequencies. The vibration array can represent dynamically the 3D space of the user's field of view: the 2D arrangement represent the x-y coordinates while the frequencies represent the z coordinate (which is the distance of an obstacle from the user). Different navigation and human factor criteria have been used to create the 2D tactile vocabulary. Finally, using the continuous feedback from the users, the goal is to balance between a minimal vocabulary for easy learning and a rich vocabulary that will still be able to represent efficiently the 3D navigation space.

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Zeng LSimros MWeber GJones MTscheligi MRogers YMurray-Smith R(2017)Camera-based mobile electronic travel aids support for cognitive mapping of unknown spacesProceedings of the 19th International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction with Mobile Devices and Services10.1145/3098279.3098563(1-10)Online publication date: 4-Sep-2017
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3098279.3098563
Safi WMaurel FRoutoure JBeust PDias GYesilada YBigham J(2015)An Empirical Study for Examining the Performance of Visually Impaired People in Recognizing Shapes through a Vibro-tactile FeedbackProceedings of the 17th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers & Accessibility10.1145/2700648.2811373(349-350)Online publication date: 26-Oct-2015
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SMC'09: Proceedings of the 2009 IEEE international conference on Systems, Man and Cybernetics

October 2009

5232 pages

ISBN:9781424427932

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IEEE Press

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Published: 11 October 2009

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Zeng LSimros MWeber GJones MTscheligi MRogers YMurray-Smith R(2017)Camera-based mobile electronic travel aids support for cognitive mapping of unknown spacesProceedings of the 19th International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction with Mobile Devices and Services10.1145/3098279.3098563(1-10)Online publication date: 4-Sep-2017
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3098279.3098563
Safi WMaurel FRoutoure JBeust PDias GYesilada YBigham J(2015)An Empirical Study for Examining the Performance of Visually Impaired People in Recognizing Shapes through a Vibro-tactile FeedbackProceedings of the 17th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers & Accessibility10.1145/2700648.2811373(349-350)Online publication date: 26-Oct-2015
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Zeng LPrescher DWeber GHuenerfauth MKurniawan S(2012)Exploration and avoidance of surrounding obstacles for the visually impairedProceedings of the 14th international ACM SIGACCESS conference on Computers and accessibility10.1145/2384916.2384936(111-118)Online publication date: 22-Oct-2012
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Zeng L(2012)Non-visual 2D representation of obstaclesACM SIGACCESS Accessibility and Computing10.1145/2140446.2140457(49-54)Online publication date: 1-Jan-2012
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