Newly blind persons using virtual environment system in a traditional orientation and mobility rehabilitation program: a case study

Abstract

This paper presents a virtual reality system (the BlindAid) developed for orientation and mobility training of people who are newly blind. The BlindAid allows users to interact with different virtual structures and objects via auditory and haptic feedback. This case study aims to examine if and how the BlindAid, in conjunction with a traditional rehabilitation programme, can help people who are newly blind develop new orientation and mobility methods. Follow-up research based on this study, with a large experiment and control group, could contribute to the area of orientation and mobility rehabilitation training for the newly blind. The case study research focused on A., a woman who is newly blind, for 17 virtual sessions spanning ten weeks, during the 12 weeks of her traditional orientation and mobility rehabilitation programme. The research was implemented by using virtual environment (VE) exploration and orientation tasks in VE and physical spaces. The research methodology used both qualitative and quantitative methods, including interviews, questionnaire, videotape recording, and user computer logs. The results of this study helped elucidate several issues concerning the contribution of the BlindAid system to the exploration strategies and learning processes experienced by the participant in her encounters with familiar and unfamiliar physical surroundings. [Box: see text].

Virtual environment navigation with look-around mode to explore new real spaces by people who are blind

“…Other research on this topic [12] supports this finding, where participants used four times longer to explore the VE compared with the same RS. Nevertheless, the experimental participants used more pauses during the exploration When the experimental participants chose the walk mode, object-to-object was the main spatial strategy and perimeter was secondary, while the findings for the control group and findings of other research show that participants walked mostly using the perimeter strategy and walking was the main tool of exploration [12,15,24].…”

“…To evaluate the participants' O&M performance in the experiments, we applied coding schemes that were mostly developed in previous research studies by four O&M rehabilitation specialists with 15 years of experience in a rehabilitation centre for people who are blind [24,44]. Based on the five research data collection tools (O&M questionnaire, exploration task, description task, orientation tasks in the RS, and observations), previous analyses, and O&M literature [5,45,8], we designed and built coding schemes with the O&M rehabilitation specialists (prior spatial knowledge, process of exploration task, and RS orientation tasks performance).…”

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

“…Based on results from an earlier pilot study (Lahav et al, 2012) that examined, coded, and analyzed data following exploration and orientation in all the nine spaces, we decided to use cluster sampling methodology in the current research. We examined, coded, and analyzed the participants' exploration and orientation tasks in four out of nine VEs.…”

“…The current work, which was done in collaboration with The Carroll Center for the Blind (CCB), is part of a larger research effort comprising the design, development, and evaluation of a VE system for blind users (Lahav & Mioduser, 2008;Lahav, Schloerb, & Srinivasan, 2012). CCB is a private nonprofit agency serving persons of all ages who are blind or visually impaired.…”

Vision-deprived virtual navigation patterns using depth cues & the effect of extended sensory range

“…One of the main tools for researching these mobility patterns has been the use of virtual environments for simulating and tracking the users' movement [6]. Such virtual environments require non-visual interfaces, usually based on the White-Cane.…”