Infrared Powered Vibro-Haptic Piano Training System for the Visually Impaired

摘要

The proposed system uses an infrared enabled haptic glove which is programmed for a fast paced learning of the piano for the visually impaired. The system provides haptic cues to the player facilitating the spatial knowledge of the key to be pressed along with the finger to be used.A string of Infrared (IR) devices are positioned over the keys of the piano. Each IR device corresponds to the individual white and black keys, which are configured to be activated by electrical signals synchronized with the musical notations. The tactile-actuators on the glove are excited as soon as the correct key and user’s fingers are aligned. It facilitates spatial Passive Haptic Learning (PHL) of the user. A group of 7 visually impaired participants were selected, at a local music studio for one month, 3 of them used the proposed system, whilst 4 of them learnt the traditional way with the instructors.The findings demonstrate that multisensory PHL provides a rich and vivid learning experience and a shorter learning curve with increased efficiency.