ArticleOptometry and vision science : official publication of the American Academy of Optometry2018
Evaluation of an Audio-haptic Sensory Substitution Device for Enhancing Spatial Awareness for the Visually Impaired.
Article in Optometry and vision science : official publication of the American Academy of Optometry, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 12 papers.
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Who cites it
12 citing papers in PubMed, 43 citations in OpenAlex.
- Re-imagining sensory substitution through gestural control: Point-To-Tell 2.Disability and rehabilitation. Assistive technology · 2026Article
- Haptic Feedback Systems for Lower-Limb Prosthetic Applications: A Review of System Design, User Experience, and Clinical Insights.Bioengineering (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- Navigation Training for Persons With Visual Disability Through Multisensory Assistive Technology: Mixed Methods Experimental Study.JMIR rehabilitation and assistive technologies · 2024Article
- Towards sensory substitution and augmentation: Mapping visual distance to audio and tactile frequency.PloS one · 2024Article
- A direct comparison of sound and vibration as sources of stimulation for a sensory substitution glove.Cognitive research: principles and implications · 2023Article
- New frontiers of retinal therapeutic intervention: a critical analysis of novel approaches.Annals of medicine · 2022Review
- The MAPS: Toward a Novel Mobility Assistance System for Visually Impaired People.Sensors (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Article
- Blindness and the Reliability of Downwards Sensors to Avoid Obstacles: A Study with the EyeCane.Sensors (Basel, Switzerland) · 2021Article
- Brain-Machine Interfaces to Assist the Blind.Frontiers in human neuroscience · 2021Review
- Multisensory inclusive design with sensory substitution.Cognitive research: principles and implications · 2020Review
- Navigation aid for blind persons by visual-to-auditory sensory substitution: A pilot study.PloS one · 2020Article
- Measuring relative vibrotactile spatial acuity: effects of tactor type, anchor points and tactile anisotropy.Experimental brain research · 2018Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
significanceVisually impaired participants were surprisingly fast in learning a new sensory substitution device, which allows them to detect obstacles within a 3.5-m radius and to find the optimal path in between. Within a few hours of training, participants successfully performed complex navigation as well as with the white cane. PURPOSE: Globally, millions of people live with vision impairment, yet effective assistive devices to increase their independence remain scarce. A promising method is the use of sensory substitution devices, which are human-machine interfaces transforming visual into auditory or tactile information. The Sound of Vision (SoV) system continuously encodes visual elements of the environment into audio-haptic signals. Here, we evaluated the SoV system in complex navigation tasks, to compare performance with the SoV system with the white cane, quantify training effects, and collect user feedback.
methodsSix visually impaired participants received eight hours of training with the SoV system, completed a usability questionnaire, and repeatedly performed assessments, for which they navigated through standardized scenes. In each assessment, participants had to avoid collisions with obstacles, using the SoV system, the white cane, or both assistive devices.
resultsThe results show rapid and substantial learning with the SoV system, with less collisions and higher obstacle awareness. After four hours of training, visually impaired people were able to successfully avoid collisions in a difficult navigation task as well as when using the cane, although they still needed more time. Overall, participants rated the SoV system's usability favorably.
conclusionsContrary to the cane, the SoV system enables users to detect the best free space between objects within a 3.5-m (up to 10-m) radius and, importantly, elevated and dynamic obstacles. All in all, we consider that visually impaired people can learn to adapt to the haptic-auditory representation and achieve expertise in usage through well-defined training within acceptable time.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.