Lahav O, Schloerb D W, Kumar S, Srinivasan M A
Laboratory for Human and Machine Haptics (The Touch Lab), Research Laboratory of Electronics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA ; School of Education, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel.
Laboratory for Human and Machine Haptics (The Touch Lab), Research Laboratory of Electronics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA.
J Assist Technol. 2012;6(1). doi: 10.1108/17549451211214346.
For most people who are blind, exploring an unknown environment can be unpleasant, uncomfortable, and unsafe. Over the past years, the use of virtual reality as a learning and rehabilitation tool for people with disabilities has been on the rise. This research is based on the hypothesis that the supply of appropriate perceptual and conceptual information through compensatory sensorial channels may assist people who are blind with anticipatory exploration. In this research we developed and tested the BlindAid system, which allows the user to explore a virtual environment. The two main goals of the research were: (a) evaluation of different modalities (haptic and audio) and navigation tools, and (b) evaluation of spatial cognitive mapping employed by people who are blind. Our research included four participants who are totally blind. The preliminary findings confirm that the system enabled participants to develop comprehensive cognitive maps by exploring the virtual environment.
对于大多数盲人来说，探索未知环境可能会不愉快、不舒服且不安全。在过去几年中，虚拟现实作为一种针对残疾人的学习和康复工具，其使用一直在增加。本研究基于这样一个假设，即通过补偿性感官通道提供适当的感知和概念信息，可能有助于盲人进行预期性探索。在本研究中，我们开发并测试了BlindAid系统，该系统允许用户探索虚拟环境。该研究的两个主要目标是：（a）评估不同的模态（触觉和音频）及导航工具，以及（b）评估盲人所采用的空间认知映射。我们的研究包括四名全盲参与者。初步研究结果证实，该系统使参与者能够通过探索虚拟环境来构建全面的认知地图。
