BlindAid: Virtual Maps For The Blind
Article Date: 11 Sep 2009 - 5:00 PDT
The blind and visually impaired often rely on others to provide 
cues and information
on navigating through their environments.  The problem with this 
method is that it
doesn't give them the tools to venture out on their own, says Dr.  
Orly Lahav of Tel
Aviv University's School of Education and Porter School for 
Environmental Studies.
To give navigational "sight" to the blind, Dr.  Lahav has 
invented a new software
tool to help the blind navigate through unfamiliar places.  It is 
connected to an
existing joystick, a 3-D haptic device, that interfaces with the 
user through the
sense of touch.  People can feel tension beneath their fingertips 
as a physical sensation
through the joystick as they navigate around a virtual 
environment which they cannot
see, only feel: the joystick stiffens when the user meets a 
virtual wall or barrier.
The software can also be programmed to emit sounds - a cappuccino 
machine firing
up in a virtual café, or phones ringing when the explorer walks 
by a reception desk.
Exploring 3D virtual worlds based on maps of real-world 
environments, the blind are
able to "feel out" streets, sidewalks and hallways with the 
joystick as they move
the cursor like a white cane on the computer screen that they 
will never see.  Before
going out alone, the new solution gives them the control, 
confidence and ability
to explore new streets making unknown spaces familiar.  It allows 
people who can't
see to make mental maps in their mind.
Dr.  Lahav's software takes physical information from our world 
and digitizes it for
transfer to a computer, with which the user interacts using a 
mechanical device.
Her hope is that the blind will be able to explore the virtual 
environment of a new
neighborhood in the comfort of their homes before venturing out 
into the real world.
A touchy-feely virtual white stick
"This tool lets the blind 'touch' and 'hear' virtual objects and 
deepens their sense
of space, distance and perspective," says Dr.  Lahav.  "They can 
'feel' intersections,
buildings, paths, and obstacles with the joystick, and even 
navigate inside a shopping
mall or a museum like the Louvre in a virtual environment before 
they go out to explore
on their own."
The tool transmits textures to the fingers and can distinguish 
among surfaces like
tiled floors, asphalt, sidewalks and grass.  In theory, any 
unknown space, indoors
or out, can be virtually pre-explored, says Dr.  Lahav.  The 
territory just needs to
be mapped first - and with existing applications like GIS 
(geography information
system), the information is already there.
A new road to independence
The tool, called the BlindAid, was recently unveiled at the 
"Virtual Rehabilitation
2009 International Conference," where Dr.  Lahav demonstrated 
case studies of people
using the tool at the Carroll Center for the Blind, a 
rehabilitation center in Newton,
Massachusetts.  There, a partially blind woman first explored the 
virtual environment
of the center - as well as the campus and 10 other sites, 
including a four-story
building.  After just three or four sessions, the woman was able 
to effectively navigate
and explore real-world target sites wearing a blindfold.
The virtual system becomes a computerized "white cane" for the 
blind, says Dr.  Lahav.
"They get feedback from the device that lets them build a 
cognitive map, which they
later apply in the real world.  It's like a high-tech walking 
cane," she says.  "Our
tool lets people 'see' their environment in advance so they can 
walk in it for real
at a later time."
Today the blind and visually impaired are very limited in their 
movements, which
necessarily influences their quality of life.  This solution 
could help them find
new options, like closer routes from train or bus stations to the 
safety of home.
"Ultimately, it helps the blind determine their own paths and 
gives them the ability
to take control of their lives," says Dr.  Lahav, who first began 
this research at
Tel Aviv University, under Prof.  David Mioduser, where she now 
works.  She then further
developed it with her MIT colleagues Dr.  Mandayam Srinivasan and 
Dr.  David W.  Schloerb.
American Friends of Tel Aviv University supports Israel's leading 
and most comprehensive
center of higher learning.  In independent rankings, TAU's 
innovations and discoveries
are cited more often by the global scientific community than all 
but 20 other universities
worldwide.
Internationally recognized for the scope and groundbreaking 
nature of its research
programs, Tel Aviv University consistently produces work with 
profound implications
for the future.
Source:
George Hunka
American Friends of Tel Aviv University

www.accessible-devices.com


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