Lahav Orly, Schloerb David W, Srinivasan Mandayam A
Research Laboratory of Electronics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, MA, USA.
Disabil Rehabil Assist Technol. 2012 Sep;7(5):420-35. doi: 10.3109/17483107.2011.635327. Epub 2011 Nov 23.
This paper presents a virtual reality system (the BlindAid) developed for orientation and mobility training of people who are newly blind. The BlindAid allows users to interact with different virtual structures and objects via auditory and haptic feedback. This case study aims to examine if and how the BlindAid, in conjunction with a traditional rehabilitation programme, can help people who are newly blind develop new orientation and mobility methods. Follow-up research based on this study, with a large experiment and control group, could contribute to the area of orientation and mobility rehabilitation training for the newly blind. The case study research focused on A., a woman who is newly blind, for 17 virtual sessions spanning ten weeks, during the 12 weeks of her traditional orientation and mobility rehabilitation programme. The research was implemented by using virtual environment (VE) exploration and orientation tasks in VE and physical spaces. The research methodology used both qualitative and quantitative methods, including interviews, questionnaire, videotape recording, and user computer logs. The results of this study helped elucidate several issues concerning the contribution of the BlindAid system to the exploration strategies and learning processes experienced by the participant in her encounters with familiar and unfamiliar physical surroundings. [Box: see text].
本文介绍了一种为新近失明者的定向和移动训练而开发的虚拟现实系统（BlindAid）。BlindAid允许用户通过听觉和触觉反馈与不同的虚拟结构和物体进行交互。本案例研究旨在检验BlindAid与传统康复计划相结合是否以及如何能够帮助新近失明者开发新的定向和移动方法。基于本研究的后续研究，设置大型实验组和对照组，可能会对新近失明者的定向和移动康复训练领域有所贡献。该案例研究聚焦于新近失明的女性A.，在其为期12周的传统定向和移动康复计划期间，进行了为期十周的17次虚拟课程。该研究通过在虚拟环境（VE）以及物理空间中使用VE探索和定向任务来实施。该研究方法同时使用了定性和定量方法，包括访谈、问卷调查、录像以及用户计算机日志。本研究结果有助于阐明几个问题，这些问题涉及BlindAid系统对参与者在熟悉和不熟悉的物理环境中探索策略和学习过程的贡献。[方框内容：见正文]
