10/12/2023 0 Comments Blind man whistle phoneFollowing the reasoning above, it seems desirable to supply information sampled by technical sensors in the same way as normal sensory perception is working. Attention is used to emphasize parts of the sensory stimuli, but does not seem to be a necessary pre-condition for perception as such. In contrast to reading off digital devices, normal perception seems effortless. Thus, the development of devices that can provide spatial information without drawing heavily on attentional resources could greatly enhance the life of blind travelers. Effectively, the information overload of modern society led to a situation where more devices are available than the individual can operate simultaneously. While these devices can be beneficial for orientation and navigation, they depend heavily on attentional resources so that immediate cues of the environment, i.e., approaching cars, might be neglected while attention is diverted by the navigational device. Recent years have seen the development of numerous gadgets such as speaking compasses or navigational devices similar to those in cars designed to support the blind during everyday navigation. A variety of apparently simple spatial tasks, i.e., crossing a large street, put blind travelers at a severe disadvantage. Without visual feedback, errors in path integration accumulate quickly. The lack of vision makes spatial orientation difficult for the blind and affects most aspects of their daily life. People with normal vision take for granted their ability to orient with the aid of distant landmarks such as large buildings, cues like street signs, and layout knowledge accessed through their visual experience of the environment. Goal-directed large-scale navigation is one of the great difficulties blind travelers face in everyday life. The present experimental approach demonstrates the positive potential of sensory augmentation devices for the help of handicapped people. Most importantly, the complementary information provided by the belt lead to a positive emotional impact with enhanced feeling of security. The results give evidence for a firm integration of the newly supplied signals into the behavior of this late blind subject with better navigational performance and more courageous behavior in unfamiliar environments. The subject found the directional information highly expedient for the adjustment of his inner maps of familiar environments and describes an increase in his feeling of security when exploring unfamiliar environments with the belt. A homing task with an additional attentional load demonstrated a significant improvement after training. Furthermore, the signal was helpful in relevant daily tasks, often complicated for the blind, such as keeping a direction over longer distances or taking shortcuts in familiar environments. In a pointing task we demonstrate an instant improvement of performance based on the signal provided by the device. This newly supplied information improved performance on different time scales. The tests were complemented by questionnaires and interviews. The subject completed a set of behavioral tests before and after an extended training period. We provide a late blind subject with a vibrotactile belt that continually signals the direction of magnetic north. Sensory augmentation devices, relying on principles similar to those at work in sensory substitution, can potentially bypass the bottleneck of attention through sub-cognitive implementation of a set of rules coupling motor actions with sensory stimulation. Common navigational aids used by blind travelers during large-scale navigation divert attention away from important cues of the immediate environment (i.e., approaching vehicles).
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