scholarly journals Accuracy and Coordination of Spatial Frames of Reference during the Exploration of Virtual Maps: Interest for Orientation and Mobility of Blind People?

2012 ◽  
Vol 2012 ◽  
pp. 1-14 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mathieu Simonnet ◽  
Stéphane Vieilledent
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Reasoning ◽  
Frames Of Reference ◽  
Whole Body ◽  
Spatial Representations ◽  
Blind People ◽  
Orientation Programs ◽  
Map Reading ◽  
Spatial Frames Of Reference ◽  
Maritime Environment ◽  
Reference Strategy

Even if their spatial reasoning capabilities remain quite similar to those of sighted people, blind people encounter difficulties in getting distant information from their surroundings. Thus, whole body displacements, tactile map consultations, or auditory solutions are needed to establish physical contacts with their environment. Therefore, the accuracy of nonvisual spatial representations heavily relies upon the efficiency of exploration strategies and the ability to coordinate egocentric and allocentric spatial frames of reference. This study aims to better understand the mechanisms of this coordination without vision by analyzing cartographic exploration strategies and assessing their influence on mental spatial representations. Six blind sailors were immersed within a virtual haptic and auditory maritime environment. They were required to learn the layout of the map. Their movements were recorded and we identified some exploration strategies. Then they had to estimate the directions of six particular seamarks in aligned and misaligned situations. Better accuracy and coordination were obtained when participants used the “central point of reference” strategy. Our discussion relative to the articulation between geometric enduring representations and salient transient perceptions provides implications on map reading techniques and on mobility and orientation programs for blind people.

scholarly journals Parallel updating and weighting of multiple spatial maps for visual stability during whole body motion

2015 ◽  
Vol 114 (6) ◽  
pp. 3211-3219 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. J. Tramper ◽  
W. P. Medendorp
Keyword(s):  
Reference Frame ◽  
Reference Frames ◽  
Spatial Information ◽  
Target Location ◽  
Visual Space ◽  
Body Motion ◽  
Whole Body ◽  
Spatial Representations ◽  
Integration Model ◽  
The Brain

It is known that the brain uses multiple reference frames to code spatial information, including eye-centered and body-centered frames. When we move our body in space, these internal representations are no longer in register with external space, unless they are actively updated. Whether the brain updates multiple spatial representations in parallel, or whether it restricts its updating mechanisms to a single reference frame from which other representations are constructed, remains an open question. We developed an optimal integration model to simulate the updating of visual space across body motion in multiple or single reference frames. To test this model, we designed an experiment in which participants had to remember the location of a briefly presented target while being translated sideways. The behavioral responses were in agreement with a model that uses a combination of eye- and body-centered representations, weighted according to the reliability in which the target location is stored and updated in each reference frame. Our findings suggest that the brain simultaneously updates multiple spatial representations across body motion. Because both representations are kept in sync, they can be optimally combined to provide a more precise estimate of visual locations in space than based on single-frame updating mechanisms.

Egocentric Action in Early Infancy: Spatial Frames of Reference for Saccades

1997 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 224-230 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rick O. Gilmore ◽  
Mark H. Johnson
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Information ◽  
Visual Space ◽  
Frames Of Reference ◽  
Saccade Target ◽  
Visually Guided ◽  
Retinal Position ◽  
Position Information ◽  
Visual Spatial ◽  
Visually Guided Action ◽  
Spatial Frames Of Reference

The extent to which infants combine visual (i e, retinal position) and nonvisual (eye or head position) spatial information in planning saccades relates to the issue of what spatial frame or frames of reference influence early visually guided action We explored this question by testing infants from 4 to 6 months of age on the double-step saccade paradigm, which has shown that adults combine visual and eye position information into an egocentric (head- or trunk-centered) representation of saccade target locations In contrast, our results imply that infants depend on a simple retinocentric representation at age 4 months, but by 6 months use egocentric representations more often to control saccade planning Shifts in the representation of visual space for this simple sensorimotor behavior may index maturation in cortical circuitry devoted to visual spatial processing in general

scholarly journals Using wrist vibrations to guide hand movement and whole body navigation

i-com ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Anke Brock ◽  
Slim Kammoun ◽  
Marc Macé ◽  
Christophe Jouffrais
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Environment ◽  
Visually Impaired ◽  
Hand Movement ◽  
Tactile Feedback ◽  
Whole Body ◽  
Blind People ◽  
Wizard Of Oz ◽  
Audio Cues ◽  
Visually Impaired People ◽  
Impaired People

SummaryIn the absence of vision, mobility and orientation are challenging. Audio and tactile feedback can be used to guide visually impaired people. In this paper, we present two complementary studies on the use of vibrational cues for hand guidance during the exploration of itineraries on a map, and whole body-guidance in a virtual environment. Concretely, we designed wearable Arduino bracelets integrating a vibratory motor producing multiple patterns of pulses. In a first study, this bracelet was used for guiding the hand along unknown routes on an interactive tactile map. A wizard-of-Oz study with six blindfolded participants showed that tactons, vibrational patterns, may be more efficient than audio cues for indicating directions. In a second study, this bracelet was used by blindfolded participants to navigate in a virtual environment. The results presented here show that it is possible to significantly decrease travel distance with vibrational cues. To sum up, these preliminary but complementary studies suggest the interest of vibrational feedback in assistive technology for mobility and orientation for blind people.

Spatial frames of reference in Seri

2011 ◽  
Vol 33 (6) ◽  
pp. 1025-1046 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carolyn O’Meara
Keyword(s):  
Frames Of Reference ◽  
Spatial Frames Of Reference

Language, culture and cognition: The view from space / Sprache, Kultur und Kognition: Die Betrachtung vom Raum

2006 ◽  
Vol 34 (1-2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Penelope Brown
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Science ◽  
Cultural Practices ◽  
Spatial Language ◽  
Frames Of Reference ◽  
Linguistic Group ◽  
Spatial Frames Of Reference ◽  
The Social ◽  
Language And Cognition ◽  
Cultural Explanation ◽  
Core Role

AbstractThis paper addresses the vexed questions of how language relates to culture, and what kind of notion of culture is important for linguistic explanation. I first sketch five perspectives - five different construals - of culture apparent in linguistics and in cognitive science more generally. These are: (i) culture as ethno-linguistic group, (ii) culture as a mental module, (iii) culture as knowledge, (iv) culture as context, and (v) culture as a process emergent in interaction. I then present my own work on spatial language and cognition in a Mayan languge and culture, to explain why I believe a concept of culture is important for linguistics. I argue for a core role for cultural explanation in two domains: in analysing the semantics of words embedded in cultural practices which color their meanings (in this case, spatial frames of reference), and in characterizing thematic and functional links across different domains in the social and semiotic life of a particular group of people.

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