A tactile display of pitch period for use in sensory substitution

1983 ◽  
Vol 73 (S1) ◽  
pp. S27-S27 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arthur Boothroyd
Keyword(s):  
Tactile Display ◽  
Sensory Substitution ◽  
Pitch Period

scholarly journals Spatiotemporal Identification of Moving Patterns on a Fingertip-based Electro-Tactile Display Array

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mehdi Rahimi ◽  
Fang Jiang ◽  
Yantao Shen
Keyword(s):  
Communication Channel ◽  
Detection Threshold ◽  
Electrical Signal ◽  
Electrical Contacts ◽  
Tactile Display ◽  
Sensory Substitution ◽  
Substitution System ◽  
Specific Order ◽  
Moving Patterns ◽  
Moving Pattern

An electro-tactile display can be used to stimulate sensations in the skin. The ultimate achievement in this area is to open a new information communication channel using this sensory substitution system. One of the requirement of such communication channel is to deliver meaningful commands to the user. The sensations should be distinctive enough to be readily understandable for the operator.<br>This study is perusing the feasibility of generating identifiable moving patterns in the electro-tactile display. Then, the degree of identification performed by the users will be validated.<br><br>An electro-tactile display is built using an array of sixteen contacts to form a moving pattern by delivering electrical signal to the fingertip skin.<br>This signal can have varying voltages, frequencies or duty cycles to form the most comfortable sensation.<br>Moving patterns can be generated by individually or collectively toggling the electrical contacts on the electro-tactile display. This will achieve a stimulation of a moving pattern. In this regard, a moving pattern can be compared to a set of frame-by-frame pictures that construct a movie. Similarly, by toggling the contacts in a specific order, a moving pattern can be achieved.<br><br>In this study, eight subjects participated. A questionnaire was used to assess the sensation of the corresponding movement.<br>The results of these reports were analyzed and a conclusion regarding the identification of the direction of the movement was drawn. It became clear that the direction of the movement had a significant impact on the recognition of the patterns.<br><br>Furthermore, an analysis of the detection threshold (DT) voltage and current mapping was performed to evaluate the effect of the internal structure of the skin for each user on the assessment performance.<br>Based on the mapping results, it became clear that the DT voltage is vastly different for each contact and the resulting spatial map is also unique to each user.

scholarly journals Designing the Model Human Cochlea: An Ambient Crossmodal Audio-Tactile Display

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Karam ◽  
Frank A. Russo ◽  
Deborah I. Fels
Keyword(s):  
Development Process ◽  
The Body ◽  
Tactile Display ◽  
New Music ◽  
Sensory Substitution ◽  
Auditory Information ◽  
Emotional Information ◽  
Future Directions ◽  
Human Cochlea ◽  
Series Of Experiments

We present a Model Human Cochlea (MHC), a sensory substitution technique and system that translates auditory information into vibrotactile stimuli using an ambient, tactile display. The model is used in the current study to translate music into discrete vibration signals displayed along the back of the body using a chair form factor. Voice coils facilitate the direct translation of auditory information onto the multiple discrete vibrotactile channels, which increases the potential to identify sections of the music that would otherwise be masked by the combined signal. One of the central goals of this work has been to improve accessibility to the emotional information expressed in music for users who are Deaf or hard of hearing. To this end, we present our prototype of the MHC, two models of sensory substitution to support the translation of existing and new music, and some of the design challenges encountered throughout the development process. Results of a series of experiments conducted to assess the effectiveness of the MHC are discussed, followed by an overview of future directions for this research.

scholarly journals Printed Texts Tracking and Following for a Finger-Wearable Electro-Braille System Through Opto-electrotactile Feedback

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mehdi Rahimi ◽  
Yantao Shen ◽  
Zhiming Liu ◽  
Fang Jiang
Keyword(s):  
Real Time ◽  
Optical Character Recognition ◽  
Text Processing ◽  
Tactile Display ◽  
Sensory Substitution ◽  
Processing Unit ◽  
Text Line ◽  
Imaging Device ◽  
Substitution System ◽  
Printed Text

This paper presents our recent development on a portable and refreshable text reading and sensory substitution system for the blind or visually impaired (BVI), called Finger-eye. The system mainly consists of an opto-text processing unit and a compact electro-tactile based display that can deliver text-related electrical signals to the fingertip skin through a wearable and Braille-dot patterned electrode array and thus delivers the electro-stimulation based Braille touch sensations to the fingertip. To achieve the goal of aiding BVI to read any text not written in Braille through this portable system, in this work, a Rapid Optical Character Recognition (R-OCR) method is firstly developed for real-time processing text information based on a Fisheye imaging device mounted at the finger-wearable electro-tactile display. This allows real-time translation of printed text to electro-Braille along with natural movement of user's fingertip as if reading any Braille display or book. More importantly, an electro-tactile neuro-stimulation feedback mechanism is proposed and incorporated with the R-OCR method, which facilitates a new opto-electrotactile feedback based text line tracking control approach that enables text line following by user fingertip during reading. Multiple experiments were designed and conducted to test the ability of blindfolded participants to read through and follow the text line based on the opto-electrotactile-feedback method. The experiments show that as the result of the opto-electrotactile-feedback, the users were able to maintain their fingertip within a 2mm distance of the text while scanning a text line. This research is a significant step to aid the BVI users with a portable means to translate and follow to read any printed text to Braille, whether in the digital realm or physically, on any surface.

scholarly journals Spatiotemporal Identification of Moving Patterns on a Fingertip-based Electro-Tactile Display Array

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mehdi Rahimi ◽  
Fang Jiang ◽  
Yantao Shen
Keyword(s):  
Communication Channel ◽  
Detection Threshold ◽  
Electrical Signal ◽  
Electrical Contacts ◽  
Tactile Display ◽  
Sensory Substitution ◽  
Substitution System ◽  
Specific Order ◽  
Moving Patterns ◽  
Moving Pattern

An electro-tactile display can be used to stimulate sensations in the skin. The ultimate achievement in this area is to open a new information communication channel using this sensory substitution system. One of the requirement of such communication channel is to deliver meaningful commands to the user. The sensations should be distinctive enough to be readily understandable for the operator.<br>This study is perusing the feasibility of generating identifiable moving patterns in the electro-tactile display. Then, the degree of identification performed by the users will be validated.<br><br>An electro-tactile display is built using an array of sixteen contacts to form a moving pattern by delivering electrical signal to the fingertip skin.<br>This signal can have varying voltages, frequencies or duty cycles to form the most comfortable sensation.<br>Moving patterns can be generated by individually or collectively toggling the electrical contacts on the electro-tactile display. This will achieve a stimulation of a moving pattern. In this regard, a moving pattern can be compared to a set of frame-by-frame pictures that construct a movie. Similarly, by toggling the contacts in a specific order, a moving pattern can be achieved.<br><br>In this study, eight subjects participated. A questionnaire was used to assess the sensation of the corresponding movement.<br>The results of these reports were analyzed and a conclusion regarding the identification of the direction of the movement was drawn. It became clear that the direction of the movement had a significant impact on the recognition of the patterns.<br><br>Furthermore, an analysis of the detection threshold (DT) voltage and current mapping was performed to evaluate the effect of the internal structure of the skin for each user on the assessment performance.<br>Based on the mapping results, it became clear that the DT voltage is vastly different for each contact and the resulting spatial map is also unique to each user.

scholarly journals Designing the Model Human Cochlea: An Ambient Crossmodal Audio-Tactile Display

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Karam ◽  
Frank A. Russo ◽  
Deborah I. Fels
Keyword(s):  
Development Process ◽  
The Body ◽  
Tactile Display ◽  
New Music ◽  
Sensory Substitution ◽  
Auditory Information ◽  
Emotional Information ◽  
Future Directions ◽  
Human Cochlea ◽  
Series Of Experiments

We present a Model Human Cochlea (MHC), a sensory substitution technique and system that translates auditory information into vibrotactile stimuli using an ambient, tactile display. The model is used in the current study to translate music into discrete vibration signals displayed along the back of the body using a chair form factor. Voice coils facilitate the direct translation of auditory information onto the multiple discrete vibrotactile channels, which increases the potential to identify sections of the music that would otherwise be masked by the combined signal. One of the central goals of this work has been to improve accessibility to the emotional information expressed in music for users who are Deaf or hard of hearing. To this end, we present our prototype of the MHC, two models of sensory substitution to support the translation of existing and new music, and some of the design challenges encountered throughout the development process. Results of a series of experiments conducted to assess the effectiveness of the MHC are discussed, followed by an overview of future directions for this research.

Patrolling the Boundaries of Synaesthesia

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Malika Auvray ◽  
Mirko Farina
Keyword(s):  
Sensory Substitution ◽  
Neurological Condition ◽  
Flavor Perception ◽  
Over Time ◽  
Hypnotic Suggestions

Synaesthesia is a neurological condition in which people make unusual associations between various sensations. This chapter investigates conceptually whether alleged non-developmental (i.e. artificial) forms of synaesthesia could be counted as genuine synaesthetic experiences. It focuses in particular on post-hypnotic suggestions, drug habits, flavor perception, and use of sensory substitution devices. It discusses a number of criteria that have been taken as definitional of synaesthesia; namely, inducer-concurrent pairing, idiosyncrasy, consistency over time, and automaticity of the process, and subsequently investigates whether those alleged non-developmental cases could fulfill these criteria. Although the response provided here is negative, as each of the cases fail to fulfill one or several of the criteria, the comparisons between these cases and congenital synaesthesia prove useful to highlight key differences between different kinds of multisensory experiences.

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