Haptic Eyes: Mapping Visual Information in to Haptic Displays

摘要

This paper presents a method of mapping visual data into haptic cues for the blind to support them in navigation. Employing auditory cues alone to support blind navigation may help some extent but too much information to the ear may lead to confusion so important information such as dangers from the obstacles, stairs, potholes, sharp edges etc given through haptic signals not only reduce the over load on the auditory channel but also improves the speed of navigation by enabling quicker reaction. The proposed system for representing visual information intuitively and easily using haptic signals may assist the visually impaired in their navigation. This technique translates the images captured from digital cameras, extracts the required information and converts it into tactile signals. The use of the haptic channel is suggested in order to prevent overload of the auditory system and to use the special qualities of the haptic sense to convey important messages of danger and hazards. This paper presents a tactile display design and discusses the application framework for using these displays for tactile information design experimentation.