EFRI-M3C: Mobility Skill Acquisition and Learning through Alternative and Multimodal Perception for Visually Impaired People

EFRI-M3C项目的目标是开发感觉运动控制模型，以建立一套设计标准，为视障人士开发改进的辅助技术。由可穿戴机器传感器获得的多模态感官信息将用体感和其他新颖的刺激（转导）方法代替和/或增强受损的视觉。本项目有以下三个研究方向：(1)确定视障人士执行寻路和伸手任务所需的信息，以及通过视觉、听觉和振动触觉方式传递信息对任务性能的影响。(2)通过对大脑活动和运动表现的体内测量来了解运动技能的获得和控制。(3)通过人机共同学习建立感觉运动模型，该模型可用于改进传感器/显示设计并应用于机器。这项研究的智力价值在于，它将为更深入地理解感觉运动整合和运动学习的神经机制提供理论基础，为人类和机器的这些功能提供新的视角。这将导致新的设计概念的替代感知，制定所需的信息，为成功的定位和寻路，并开发具有成本效益和革命性的机电设备，以帮助视障人士实现与正常视力的人相当的行动功能。这个跨学科团队包括来自纽约城市学院和佐治亚理工学院的工程、计算机科学、心理学和应用生理学专家，致力于解决传感、认知和行动领域的挑战性问题。咨询委员会成员，包括（神经）眼科学和人类视觉研究方面的专家，以及纽约州盲人和视力障碍者委员会的顾问，将为这项研究提供指导。这项研究的更广泛影响将是为感觉障碍患者提供辅助技术，由于美国和世界各地老年人人口的增加，感觉障碍患者的数量一直在上升。该项目还将在辅助技术、脑机接口和感觉运动整合方面创建新的和扩展现有的学术项目。它将增加学生的跨校园教育机会，特别是在两个校区中代表性不足的群体。

The objective of this EFRI-M3C project is to develop models of sensorimotor control in order to establish a set of design criteria for developing improved assistive technologies for visually impaired people. Multimodal sensory information obtained by wearable machine sensors will substitute for and/or augment impaired vision with somatosensory and other novel stimulation (?transducing?) methods. The project has the following three research threads: (1) Determination of the information needed by visually impaired people to perform wayfinding and arm reaching tasks and the impact on task performance when transducing information through visual, auditory and vibrotactile modalities. (2) Understanding of motor skill acquisition and control through in vivo measurements of brain activity and movement performance. (3) Development of a sensorimotor model through man-machine co-learning, which can be used for improving sensor/display designs and applied to machines. The intellectual merit of this research is that it will generate a theoretical foundation for a deeper understanding of the neural mechanisms of sensorimotor integration and motor learning, shedding new light on these functions in humans and machines. This will lead to new design concepts of alternative perception, formulation of required information necessary for successful orientation and wayfinding, and development of cost-effective and revolutionary mechatronic devices to assist visually impaired people in achieving mobility functions comparable to people with normal vision. The interdisciplinary team includes experts in engineering, computer science, psychology, and applied physiology from the City College of New York and Georgia Tech, tackling challenging problems on the boundaries of sensing, cognition, and action. Advisory board members, including experts in (neuro-)ophthalmology and human vision research, as well as counselors at the NYS Commission for the Blind and Visually Handicapped, will provide guidance for the study. The broader impacts of this research will be assistive technologies for individuals with sensory impairments, whose numbers have been rising due to the increasing population of older adults in the US and around the world. The project will also create new and expand existing academic programs in assistive technologies, brain computer interfaces and sensorimotor integration. It will increase cross-campus education opportunities for students particularly in under-represented groups of the two campuses.