Virtual Environment System in Support of a Traditional Orientation and Mobility Rehabilitation Program for People Who Are Blind

BlindAid, a virtual environment system developed in part for orientation and mobility training of newly, adventitiously, and congenitally blind persons, allows interaction with different virtual structures and objects via auditory and haptic feedback. This research examined whether and how the system might help people who are blind develop orientation and mobility skills within a traditional rehabilitation program. Nine clients at The Carroll Center for the Blind (Newton, MA) explored VEs and performed virtual orientation tasks in addition to their traditional orientation and mobility training. The virtual training gave the participants additional time to learn systematic exploration and orientation strategies and their performance was evaluated using qualitative and quantitative methods. The findings supply strong evidence that practicing with the BlindAid system does enhance traditional orientation and mobility training in these areas.

[1]  D. Tzovaras,et al.  Design and implementation of haptic virtual environments for the training of the visually impaired , 2004, IEEE Transactions on Neural Systems and Rehabilitation Engineering.

[2]  Orly Lahav,et al.  Newly blind persons using virtual environment system in a traditional orientation and mobility rehabilitation program: a case study , 2012, Disability and rehabilitation. Assistive technology.

[3]  T Sato,et al.  A Training System of Orientation and Mobility for Blind People Using Acoustic Virtual Reality , 2011, IEEE Transactions on Neural Systems and Rehabilitation Engineering.

[4]  Dimitrios Tzovaras,et al.  Design and implementation of haptic virtual environments for the training of the visually impaired , 2004 .

[5]  David Mioduser,et al.  Exploration of Unknown Spaces by People Who are Blind Using a Multi-Sensory Virtual Environment , 2004 .

[6]  Barbara Tversky,et al.  Distortions in cognitive maps , 1992 .

[7]  E. D'Atri,et al.  A system to aid blind people in the mobility: A usability test and its results , 2007, Second International Conference on Systems (ICONS'07).

[8]  Cagatay Basdogan,et al.  Haptics in virtual environments: taxonomy, research status, and challenges , 1997, Comput. Graph..

[9]  John Kenneth Salisbury,et al.  Phantom-Based Haptic Interaction with Virtual Objects , 1997, IEEE Computer Graphics and Applications.

[10]  R. Kitchin,et al.  Techniques to Collect and Analyze the Cognitive Map Knowledge of Persons with Visual Impairment Or Blindness: Issues of Validity , 1997 .

[11]  David Mioduser,et al.  Construction of cognitive maps of unknown spaces using a multi-sensory virtual environment for people who are blind , 2008, Comput. Hum. Behav..

[12]  Gert Jan Gelderblom,et al.  Inventory of Electronic Mobility Aids for Persons with Visual Impairments: A Literature Review , 2008 .

[13]  M. Bergamasco,et al.  Computer graphics access for blind people through a haptic and audio virtual environment , 2004, Proceedings. Second International Conference on Creating, Connecting and Collaborating through Computing.

[14]  M. Simonnet,et al.  Preliminary Work for Vocal and Haptic Navigation Software for Blind Sailors , 2006, 2006 2nd International Conference on Information & Communication Technologies.

[15]  Anatole Lécuyer,et al.  HOMERE: a multimodal system for visually impaired people to explore virtual environments , 2003, IEEE Virtual Reality, 2003. Proceedings..

[16]  David J. Brown,et al.  An interface to virtual environments for people who are blind using Wii technology ‐ mental models and navigation , 2009 .

[17]  J. Rieser,et al.  How Persons with Visual Impairments Explore Novel Spaces: Strategies of Good and Poor Performers , 1993 .

[18]  Elisabeth Svensson,et al.  The ADL Taxonomy - from Individual Categorical Data to Ordinal Categorical Data , 1999 .

[19]  W. Jacobson.  The Art and Science of Teaching Orientation and Mobility to Persons With Visual Impairments , 1993 .

[20]  Sri Kurniawan,et al.  Design and user evaluation of a spatial audio system for blind users , 2004 .

[21]  Sudhanshu Kumar Semwal,et al.  Virtual Environments for Visually Impaired , 2000, Virtual Worlds.

[22]  G. Bishop,et al.  BATS: The Blind Audio Tactile Mapping System , 2003 .

[23]  Tommy Gärling,et al.  Learning A Complex Urban Route Without Sight: Comparing Naturalistic versus Laboratory Measures , 1998 .

[24]  J. Fletcher.  Spatial Representation in Blind Children. 1: Development Compared to Sighted Children , 1980 .

[25]  Mandayam A. Srinivasan,et al.  BlindAid: Virtual environment system for self-reliant trip planning and orientation and mobility training , 2010, 2010 IEEE Haptics Symposium.

[26]  A. Rizzo,et al.  The application of virtual reality technology in rehabilitation. , 2001 .