[gui-talk] Fwd: BlindAid: Virtual Maps For The Blind

[Steve Pattison]

From: Parker at Vip conduit Vipcomm at mchsi.com
To: Accessible Devices a-d at accessible-devices.com

This is all the information we currently have on this.

BlindAid: Virtual Maps For The Blind Article Date: 11 Sep 2009 - 5:00
PDT

The blind and visually impaired often rely on others to provide cues
and information on navigating through their environments. The problem
with this method is that it doesn't give them the tools to venture out
on their own, says Dr. Orly Lahav of Tel Aviv University's School of
Education and Porter School for Environmental Studies.

To give navigational "sight" to the blind, Dr. Lahav has invented a new
software tool to help the blind navigate through unfamiliar places. It
is connected to an existing joystick, a 3-D haptic device, that
interfaces with the user through the sense of touch. People can feel
tension beneath their fingertips as a physical sensation through the
joystick as they navigate around a virtual environment which they
cannot see, only feel: the joystick stiffens when the user meets a
virtual wall or barrier. The software can also be programmed to emit
sounds - a cappuccino machine firing up in a virtual café, or phones
ringing when the explorer walks by a reception desk. Exploring 3D
virtual worlds based on maps of real-world environments, the blind are
able to "feel out" streets, sidewalks and hallways with the joystick
as they move the cursor like a white cane on the computer screen that
they will never see. Before going out alone, the new solution gives
them the control, confidence and ability to explore new streets making
unknown spaces familiar. It allows people who can't see to make mental
maps in their mind. Dr. Lahav's software takes physical information
from our world and digitizes it for transfer to a computer, with which
the user interacts using a mechanical device. Her hope is that the
blind will be able to explore the virtual environment of a new
neighborhood in the comfort of their homes before venturing out into
the real world. A touchy-feely virtual white stick "This tool lets the
blind 'touch' and 'hear' virtual objects and deepens their sense of
space, distance and perspective," says Dr. Lahav. "They can 'feel'
intersections, buildings, paths, and obstacles with the joystick, and
even navigate inside a shopping mall or a museum like the Louvre in a
virtual environment before they go out to explore on their own." The
tool transmits textures to the fingers and can distinguish among
surfaces like tiled floors, asphalt, sidewalks and grass. In theory,
any unknown space, indoors or out, can be virtually pre-explored, says
Dr. Lahav. The territory just needs to be mapped first - and with
existing applications like GIS (geography information system), the
information is already there. A new road to independence The tool,
called the BlindAid, was recently unveiled at the "Virtual
Rehabilitation 2009 International Conference," where Dr. Lahav
demonstrated case studies of people using the tool at the Carroll
Center for the Blind, a rehabilitation center in Newton, Massachusetts.
There, a partially blind woman first explored the virtual environment
of the center - as well as the campus and 10 other sites, including a
four-story building. After just three or four sessions, the woman was
able to effectively navigate and explore real-world target sites
wearing a blindfold. The virtual system becomes a computerized "white
cane" for the blind, says Dr. Lahav. "They get feedback from the
device that lets them build a cognitive map, which they later apply in
the real world. It's like a high-tech walking cane," she says. "Our
tool lets people 'see' their environment in advance so they can walk
in it for real at a later time." Today the blind and visually impaired
are very limited in their movements, which necessarily influences
their quality of life. This solution could help them find new options,
like closer routes from train or bus stations to the safety of home.
"Ultimately, it helps the blind determine their own paths and gives
them the ability to take control of their lives," says Dr. Lahav, who
first began this research at Tel Aviv University, under Prof. David
Mioduser, where she now works. She then further developed it with her
MIT colleagues Dr. Mandayam Srinivasan and Dr. David W. Schloerb.
American Friends of Tel Aviv University supports Israel's leading and
most comprehensive center of higher learning. In independent rankings,
TAU's innovations and discoveries are cited more often by the global
scientific community than all but 20 other universities worldwide.
Internationally recognized for the scope and groundbreaking nature of
its research programs, Tel Aviv University consistently produces work
with profound implications for the future. Source: George Hunka
American Friends of Tel Aviv University

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