ArticlePloS one2020
Navigation aid for blind persons by visual-to-auditory sensory substitution: A pilot study.
Article in PloS one, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
11 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Topical Review: Impact of Central Vision Loss on Navigation and Obstacle Avoidance while Walking.Optometry and vision science : official publication of the American Academy of Optometry · 2022Pooled it
- Substitution of human olfaction by the trigeminal system.Science advances · 2025Article
- Localization abilities with a visual-to-auditory substitution device are modulated by the spatial arrangement of the scene.Attention, perception & psychophysics · 2025Article
- Navigation Training for Persons With Visual Disability Through Multisensory Assistive Technology: Mixed Methods Experimental Study.JMIR rehabilitation and assistive technologies · 2024Article
- A brief reference to AI-driven audible reality (AuRa) in open world: potential, applications, and evaluation.Frontiers in artificial intelligence · 2024Article
- Assessment of Accuracy of Spatial Object Localization by Means of Mono and Stereo Modes of Visual-to-Auditory Sensory Substitution in People with Visual Impairments (a Pilot Study).Sovremennye tekhnologii v meditsine · 2024Article
- An investigation into the effectiveness of using acoustic touch to assist people who are blind.PloS one · 2023Article
- Living Without a Diagnosis: A Patient's Perspective on Diabetic Macular Ischemia.Ophthalmology and therapy · 2022Article
- LidSonic V2.0: A LiDAR and Deep-Learning-Based Green Assistive Edge Device to Enhance Mobility for the Visually Impaired.Sensors (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Article
- The Unfolding Space Glove: A Wearable Spatio-Visual to Haptic Sensory Substitution Device for Blind People.Sensors (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Article
- Analysis and Validation of Cross-Modal Generative Adversarial Network for Sensory Substitution.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
purposeIn this study, we investigate to what degree augmented reality technology can be used to create and evaluate a visual-to-auditory sensory substitution device to improve the performance of blind persons in navigation and recognition tasks.
methodsA sensory substitution algorithm that translates 3D visual information into audio feedback was designed. This algorithm was integrated in an augmented reality based mobile phone application. Using the mobile device as sensory substitution device, a study with blind participants (n = 7) was performed. The participants navigated through pseudo-randomized obstacle courses using either the sensory substitution device, a white cane or a combination of both. In a second task, virtual 3D objects and structures had to be identified by the participants using the same sensory substitution device.
resultsThe realized application for mobile devices enabled participants to complete the navigation and object recognition tasks in an experimental environment already within the first trials without previous training. This demonstrates the general feasibility and low entry barrier of the designed sensory substitution algorithm. In direct comparison to the white cane, within the study duration of ten hours the sensory substitution device did not offer a statistically significant improvement in navigation.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
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.