Haptic Virtual Environments to Enhance Navigation and Mobility of Blind People

触觉虚拟环境可增强盲人的导航和移动性

• 批准号: 8547812
• 负责人: MANDAYAM A SRINIVASAN
• 金额: $ 36.67万
• 依托单位: MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 财政年份: 2010
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2010-09-01 至 2015-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/8547812
• 关键词: Acquaintances; Area; Canis familiaris; Categories; Cognitive; Cognitive Science; Collaborations; Complex; Destinations; Development; Devices; Diagnosis; Educational Curriculum; Educational process of instructing; Engineering; Environment; Face; Feedback; Floor; Foundations; Funding; Future; Goals; Grant; Hand; Home environment; Human; Individual; Information Technology; Internet; Knowledge; Learning; Libraries; Maps; Methods; Metric; Modeling; Motor; Operating System; Participant; Physical Efforts; Play; Positioning Attribute; Protocols documentation; Provider; Questionnaires; Rehabilitation Centers; Rehabilitation therapy; Research; Research Personnel; Research Project Grants; Robot; Role; Scientist; Sensory; Series; Services; Simulate; Sorting - Cell Movement; Space Explorations; Specialist; Speed; System; Teaching Method; Testing; Time; Touch sensation; Training; Transportation; Vision; Visit; Visual impairment; Visually Impaired Persons; Walking; Work; auditory feedback; base; blind; density; design; experience; flexibility; frontier; global environment; graphical user interface; haptics; improved; instructor; novel; operation; programs; public health relevance; research study; robotic device; skills; tool; usability; virtual; way finding

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Our ability to navigate spaces independently, safely and efficiently is a combined product of sensory, motor and cognitive skills. When navigating through an unknown environment, the sense of vision plays a primary role in guiding sighted people safely to their destination. Lacking this information, blind people face great difficulties in exploring new spaces. For most blind individuals, walking into an unknown environment can be quite unpleasant and uncomfortable even after extensive orientation and mobility (O&M) rehabilitation training. The current O&M teaching methods have significant deficiencies such as limits on exploration time, exploration space, the physical effort needed and the required number of repetitions. In this proposed continuation of a collaborative project (funded by a R21 Exploratory/Developmental research grant from NEI) between The Carroll Center and The Touch Lab at MIT, we propose to further develop BlindAid, a desktop virtual environment (VE) system with 3D haptic and 3D audio feedback with which blind users can interact with virtual models of real spaces in order to become familiar with the spaces and their content prior to visiting them. This project includes two categories of specific aims. The first set of specific aims is to design and develop a VE system for users who are blind. It includes the development of (a) a virtual environment editor for the instructor/experimenter, and (b) navigation tools, such as, a virtual guide agent, multi- scale environments and GPS compatibility. The second set of specific aims is to conduct experiments on the use of the VE system, as follows: (a) exploration of virtual models, (b) construction of cognitive maps, and (c) activation of the cognitive maps when traversing through real spaces. Exploring interactively in the VE is expected to give the people who are blind a holistic and flexible cognitive model that will help them control the information density, and to provide a stimulating, comprehensive and thorough acquaintance with the target space. As a result, the three long-term benefits of this research are (a) integrating the VE system into an O&M curriculum at rehabilitation centers to improve their training services for blind individuals; (b) developing a VE system that can be used to download spatial maps with haptic and auditory feedback via the Internet that are compatible with GPS systems; (c) integrating the use of VE system in K-12 academic curriculums. Associated benefits include the development of collaborative research between the O&M service providers and researchers in the advanced information technology and cognitive science research fields. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: The proposed research project has been designed to expand the usability and usefulness of a novel virtual environment (VE) system that has been shown to help blind individuals explore and become familiar with unknown environments (e.g., a public transportation station or public library) before actually encountering and navigating through them. The planned experiments to evaluate this VE system with touch, feel, and audio interfaces can also contribute to the scientific understanding of how people who are blind construct and use cognitive maps of real spaces. This system can be integrated into the traditional orientation and mobility training curriculum at rehabilitation centers, or can be used to interact with downloaded spatial maps via the Internet, similar to the current map programs (e.g., Mapquest, Google Maps) that use a graphical interface for sighted users.

描述（由申请人提供）：我们独立、安全、高效地导航空间的能力是感官、运动和认知技能的综合产物。在未知环境中导航时，视觉在引导视力正常的人安全到达目的地方面起着主要作用。由于缺乏这些信息，盲人在探索新空间时面临很大的困难。对于大多数盲人来说，即使经过广泛的定向和移动康复训练，走进一个陌生的环境也会非常不愉快和不舒服。现有的运维教学方法存在着探索时间、探索空间的限制、需要付出的体力和需要重复的次数等明显的不足。在Carroll中心和麻省理工学院Touch Lab之间的合作项目（由NEI的R21探索性/发展性研究基金资助）的拟议延续中，我们建议进一步开发BlindAid，这是一个具有3D触觉和3D音频反馈的桌面虚拟环境（VE）系统，盲人用户可以通过该系统与真实空间的虚拟模型进行交互，以便在访问它们之前熟悉空间及其内容。该项目包括两类具体目标。第一组具体目标是为盲人用户设计和开发VE系统。它包括(a)讲师/实验者的虚拟环境编辑器的开发，以及(b)导航工具，如虚拟向导代理，多尺度环境和GPS兼容性。第二组具体目标是对VE系统的使用进行实验，如下：(a)探索虚拟模型，(b)构建认知地图，(c)在穿越真实空间时激活认知地图。在VE中进行交互式探索，期望给盲人一个整体的、灵活的认知模型，帮助他们控制信息密度，并对目标空间提供一个刺激的、全面的、彻底的认识。因此，这项研究的三个长期效益是：(a)将VE系统整合到康复中心的操作与维护课程中，以改善他们对盲人的培训服务；(b)开发一套虚拟现实系统，可通过互联网下载与全球定位系统兼容的空间地图，并提供触觉和听觉反馈；(c)在K-12学术课程中整合VE系统的使用。相关的好处包括在先进的信息技术和认知科学研究领域的运维服务提供商和研究人员之间的合作研究的发展。