LR HAV VRE

"Learning and rehabilitation using haptic, audio and visual feedback in virtual reality environments"

 Partecipanti

Mappa

 Word cloud

Esplora la "nuvola delle parole (Word Cloud) per avere un'idea di massima del progetto.

 Obiettivo del progetto (Objective)

'The ability to navigate spaces independently, safely and efficiently is a combined product of motor, sensory, and cognitive skills.Sighted people use the visual channel to gather information required for this mental mapping.Lacking this information, people who are blind or visually impaired face great difficulties in exploring new spaces. Research on orientation and mobility skills of people who are blind indicates that support for the acquisition of efficient spatial mapping should be supplied at two main levels: At the perceptual level the haptic, auditory, and olfactory channels become powerful information suppliers about unknown spaces; at the conceptual level, the focus is on supporting the development of strategies for efficient mapping and generation of navigation paths. The main goal of this research is to attain a thorough understanding of cognitive mapping process of complex unknown spaces by people who are visually challenged, when the exploration of the spaces is based on haptic, auditory, visually, and conceptual feedback supplied by a virtual learning environment (VLE). The research questions are: What are the VLE components that appear to have significant value?Does simulated walking in the VLE contribute to the construction of an efficient cognitive map?How does this cognitive map contribute to the person’s performance in the real space under short-term and long-term retrieval conditions? Four independent variables will be considered: type of disability; age of vision loss; type of environment – VLE with haptic and auditory feedback, VLE with haptic feedback, VLE with haptic, auditory and visual feedback, VLE with haptic and visual feedback, and real space; and time– performance in the real space immediately after the exploration and about a year later. Three sets of dependent variables were defined: the exploration process of unknown space; the cognitive mapping process and outcomes; and the implementation of the constructed map in the real space.'

Introduzione (Teaser)

People with disabilities are in need of an adequate learning tool to cope with dynamically changing environs. A virtual learning environment (VLE) that provides compensatory sensorial channels could prove to be the answer for such individuals.

Descrizione progetto (Article)

Scientists under the aegis of the EU-funded project 'Learning and rehabilitation using haptic, audio and visual feedback in virtual reality environments' (LR HAV VRE) are researching and developing several such technologies for the blind. A combination of haptic (i.e. sense of touch) and auditory feedback was used to provide information and improve the learning process. Project members carried out four studies to improve orientation skills and to develop a learning and rehabilitation tool.

In the first study, four blind participants used the BlindAid system to navigate unknown complex real spaces (RSs). Participants showed good orientation and cognitive mapping skills.

For the second study, researchers transformed the BlindAid system into a learning and rehabilitation tool. This 3D audio system was used as a simulator to create a virtual map using a hand-held stylus. Totally and partially blind people were included in this study to assess their ability to gather spatial information and use it to navigate RSs. Results were highly promising, leading to publications in several international scientific journals and presentations at international conferences and scientific meetings.

The third study is part of collaborative research between research groups from Nottingham Trent University and Tel Aviv University, and continues and extends the research of Evett (Evett et al, 2008; 2009). This study involved developing a virtual cane for performance comparison with the BlindAid system. The virtual cane is part of a readily available Nintendo Wii technology that was adapted to scan the environment, detect motion and provide auditory feedback. Simple and complex RSs were explored by the blind participants to evaluate exploration and cognitive mapping processes and their efficacy with regard to navigation. Currently, data collection and analysis are ongoing.

In the fourth study, a VLE was used to provide science education through auditory feedback of important parameters. Researchers modified an existing system to develop a computer model to simulate complex scientific models. Study outcomes were disseminated via international scientific journal publications and at two international conferences.

Successful development of such VLE systems for the blind could find several applications that include navigating unknown territory and an effective rehabilitative programme. Such hand-held tactile systems could help blind people become more independent and confident while handling routine daily activities and learning new skills.