This paper reports the results of the first three in a series of experiments on tactile perception which form part of a larger project on tactile perceptions and spatial representations and the design of tactile interfaces for mobility devices for blind, partially sighted and deafblind people. The results indicate the potential of tactile interfaces, including to support environmental exploration and mobility. The participants showed reasonably good ability to determine the direction of motion of an arrow, with best recognition rates in the up and right directions. They showed reasonably good ability to use a tactile interface to detect and avoid obstacles after a very short learning period and more limited ability to learn and remember an environmental representation using information from a tactile interface and walking through the environment without specific instructions.

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This paper will present the design and experimentation of the RAMPE system intended for the assistance and information of visually disabled/impaired people so that they can increase their mobility and autonomy in public transports. The system is intended to equip bus or tramway stops or to be installed in connection link. It is based either on a remote control (RC) or on a smart hand-held WiFi enabled device like a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) able to communicate by a WiFi connection with fixed equipment in stations to retrieve travelers information. This system has been evaluated by Visually Disabled People (VDP) in real public transport environment in the city of Lyon in France. Ergonomics data has been collected during the experiment and analyzed, showing the usability of such devices by VDP and hence also by Visually Impaired Peoples (VIP).

This paper presents the experimentation of a system, developed through the RAMPE research project, intended for the assistance and information of blind or Visual Impaired People (VIP) so that they can increase their mobility and autonomy in public transports. The system is intended to equip bus or tramway stops. It is based either on a simple remote command or on a smart hand-held devices that is a WiFi enabled Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) able to retrieve travelers information. This system has been evaluated by blind People in real environment in the public transport in the city of Lyon in France. Ergonomics data has been collected during the experiment and analyzed, showing the usability of such kind of device by VIP.

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Multisensory Interaction (M.I.) is a promising research field acting on both perception and cognition. Among benefits, including the "design for all" approach, it is expected to increase humans' cognitive performance (such as learning and cognitive stimulation) as well as user's experience. To our knowledge, there is no convincing tool allowing researchers to create easily multisensory scenarios, exercises or experimental interaction situations. This paper introduces the PRIM project which aims at designing a new and original tool for designing multisensory interactive interaction situations.