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Biomedical Engineering and Bioengineering Commons™
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Full-Text Articles in Biomedical Engineering and Bioengineering
Localization Of Auditory Spatial Targets In Sighted And Blind Subjects, Richard Nuckols
Localization Of Auditory Spatial Targets In Sighted And Blind Subjects, Richard Nuckols
Theses and Dissertations
This research was designed to investigate the fundamental nature in which blind people utilize audible cues to attend to their surroundings. Knowledge on how blind people respond to external spatial stimuli is expected to assist in development of better tools for helping people with visual disabilities navigate their environment. There was also interest in determining how blind people compare to sighted people in auditory localization tasks. The ability of sighted individuals, blindfolded individuals, and blind individuals in localizing spatial auditory targets was assessed. An acoustic display board allowed the researcher to provide multiple sound presentations to the subjects. The subjects’ …
The Design And Development Of A Perceptual-Based Haptic Display Device, Sohaib Akhter
The Design And Development Of A Perceptual-Based Haptic Display Device, Sohaib Akhter
Theses and Dissertations
Graphical information presented as pictures, graphs, maps, and the like are an important media for relaying knowledge and are a fundamental means of education rarely experienced by people who are blind or have a severe visual impairment. This thesis presents the design, development and testing of a multiple finger, haptic matrix dynamic display device capable of relaying graphical information through simulated textures. The design is based on user perception studies that determined which hand constraints provided the best tradeoff between simplicity of design, accuracy and time to answer. The best design was one that incorporated multiple fingers in close proximity …
A Study Towards Development Of An Automated Haptic User Interface (Ahui) For Individuals Who Are Blind Or Visually Impaired, Ravi Rastogi
A Study Towards Development Of An Automated Haptic User Interface (Ahui) For Individuals Who Are Blind Or Visually Impaired, Ravi Rastogi
Theses and Dissertations
An increasing amount of information content used in schools, work and everyday living is being presented in graphical form, creating accessibility challenges for individuals who are blind or visually impaired, especially in dynamic environments, such as over the internet. Refreshable haptic displays that can interact with computers can be used to access such information tactually. Main focus of this study was the development of specialized computer applications allowing users to actively compensate for the inherent issues of haptics when exploring visual diagrams as compared to vision, which we hypothesized, would improve the usability of such devices. An intuitive zooming algorithm …
Development Of A Multiple Contact Haptic Display With Texture-Enhanced Graphics, David Burch
Development Of A Multiple Contact Haptic Display With Texture-Enhanced Graphics, David Burch
Theses and Dissertations
This dissertation presents work towards the development of a multiple finger, worn, dynamic display device, which utilizes a method of texture encoded information to haptically render graphical images for individuals who are blind or visually impaired. The device interacts directly with the computer screen, using the colors and patterns displayed by the image as a means to encode complex patterns of vibrotactile output, generating the texture feedback to render the image. In turn, the texture feedback was methodically designed to enable parallel processing of certain coarse information, speeding up the exploration of the diagram and improving user performance. The design …
Development Of An Inexpensive, Haptic Graphical Display Device, David Burch
Development Of An Inexpensive, Haptic Graphical Display Device, David Burch
Theses and Dissertations
A finger-worn haptic device capable of rendering 2-D graphics through vibrotactile feedback is presented. The device development is presented from its initial stages of being a stylus design using a photo-interrupter optical sensor and pager-motor actuator to a small case worn on the finger using a RGB color sensor and a piezoelectric actuator. Testing of the latest prototype design shows that it has a spatial sensitivity (<2mm) comparable to natural touch (~1mm) and can be used to output a variety of vibrotactile textures. The design can be expanded for a multiple finger, independent device, while remaining affordable (<$100) and highly portable (<500g).