Music-touch Shoes: Vibrotactile Interface for Hearing Impaired Dancers

摘要

The hearing handicapped children show a penchant for dancing and dance plays an essential part in education of deaf children. This paper introduces the Music-touch Shoes, a pair of shoes particularly designed for hearing handicapped dancers: The rhythm and tempo of music can be communicated and perceived through the vibrotactile interaction. The vibrotactile interface is applied to shoes because feet are among the body parts which are most directly involved in performing dancing rhythm. The different sequences, intensity and frequency of vibrations reflect different rhythm and tempo of music. This project sought to explore a way of making up for the shortage of hearing ability through interaction with other senses, such as vibrotactile sense, to fulfill the same dancing entertainment demand of the hearing handicapped people.