BlindAid: Virtual environment system for self-reliant trip planning and orientation and mobility training

Abstract

BlindAid is a virtual environment (VE) system that enables blind people to more easily learn about new environments on their own. The system is implemented on a desktop personal computer with a Phantom  haptic interface and three-dimensional spatialized audio. In addition to providing blind users with non-visual stimuli similar to what they will depend on in the actual environment, the system is designed to enhance and accelerate the user's understanding of the unknown environment by giving him/her the ability to interact with the VE in ways that are not possible in the real world. The BlindAid system was developed and evaluated as part of an experimental study related to how people who are blind build cognitive maps of their physical environment and how recent advances in VE technology might support orientation and mobility (O&M) training. The current system is able to provide a visual display and record the user's actions in the VE for later review by researchers and O&M instructors. The paper focuses on the technical development of the system with some results from an initial evaluation by four blind volunteers.

Virtual Environment System in Support of a Traditional Orientation and Mobility Rehabilitation Program for People Who Are Blind

“…The current study examined whether and how the VE system that we developed, BlindAid (Lahav, Schloerb, Kumar, & Srinivasan, 2008;Schloerb, Lahav, Desloge, & Srinivasan, 2010), could enhance traditional orientation and mobility (O&M) training for people who are blind. A significant advantage of this approach is that exploration in a VE is inherently safe.…”

A Haptic-Audio Simulator Indoor Navigation: To Assist Visually Impaired Environment Exploration

“…Two VR research-based solutions that focus on indoor navigation include BlindAid [17] and the Kulturhuset Prototype [18]. The BlindAid system [17] consists of a VE replica of a real life environment where the scenario is a single, horizontal level such as a floor of a building.…”

“…Simplified environmental sounds were added for enhanced user immersion and orientation. From Schloerb"s findings [17], the use of background sounds helped users remain oriented in the VE and as such, are included in this application.…”

“…The BlindAid system [17] consists of a VE replica of a real life environment where the scenario is a single, horizontal level such as a floor of a building. This system applies haptic feedback and audio cues to test the user"s ability to navigate the environment as well as how comfortably and accurately they move about the corresponding real world environment [17]. The user moves through the VE using the haptic device and receives force feedback when the avatar, represented as a moving dot on the screen, comes into contact with an object in the VE.…”

“…Two VR research-based solutions that focus on indoor navigation include BlindAid [17] and the Kulturhuset Prototype [18]. The BlindAid system [17] consists of a VE replica of a real life environment where the scenario is a single, horizontal level such as a floor of a building. This system applies haptic feedback and audio cues to test the user"s ability to navigate the environment as well as how comfortably and accurately they move about the corresponding real world environment [17].…”