Tactile Radar: experimenting a computer game with visually disabled.

BACKGROUND: Visually disabled people increasingly use computers in everyday life, thanks to novel assistive technologies better tailored to their cognitive functioning. Like sighted people, many are interested in computer games - videogames and audio-games. Tactile-games are beginning to emerge. The Tactile Radar is a device through which a visually disabled person is able to detect distal obstacles. In this study, it is connected to a computer running a tactile-game. The game consists in finding and collecting randomly arranged coins in a virtual room. METHODS: The study was conducted with nine congenital blind people including both sexes, aged 20-64 years old. Complementary methods of first and third person were used: the debriefing interview and the quasi-experimental design. RESULTS: The results indicate that the Tactile Radar is suitable for the creation of computer games specifically tailored for visually disabled people. CONCLUSIONS: Furthermore, the device seems capable of eliciting a powerful immersive experience. Methodologically speaking, this research contributes to the consolidation and development of first and third person complementary methods, particularly useful in disabled people research field, including the evaluation by users of the Tactile Radar effectiveness in a virtual reality context. Implications for rehabilitation Despite the growing interest in virtual games for visually disabled people, they still find barriers to access such games. Through the development of assistive technologies such as the Tactile Radar, applied in virtual games, we can create new opportunities for leisure, socialization and education for visually disabled people. The results of our study indicate that the Tactile Radar is adapted to the creation of video games for visually disabled people, providing a playful interaction with the players.

O aprendizado da utilização da substituição sensorial visuo-tátil por pessoas com deficiência visual: primeiras experiências e estratégias metodológicas / The learning of the use of the tactile-vision sensory substitution by people with visual disability: first experiences and methodological strategies

O sistema de substituição tátil-visual (TVSS) é uma tecnologia assistiva criada para ajudar deficientes visuais a perceberem aspectos visuais de seu ambiente através do tato e contribuir para sua inclusão social. Para melhor entender o processo de aprendizagem dessa tecnologia, quatro participantes cegos foram treinados com o Brainport®, a última versão do TVSS, onde imagens visuais transformadas são exploradas pela língua. O artigo objetiva de investigar o estágio inicial desse processo de aprendizagem, em termos tanto do desempenho dos participantes quanto da qualidade de sua experiência. O treinamento, conduzido de acordo com um método clínico-pedagógico, produziu dados em terceira pessoa e em primeira pessoa. Os dados foram obtidos através de registros de desempenho e de entrevistas de explicitação. Os resultados mostram que as maiores dificuldades surgidas foram relativas ao acoplamento sensório-motor, aos movimentos do corpo e da cabeça e à dissonância entre as expectativas e a qualidade da experiência perceptiva.

The tactile-vision-substitution-system (TVSS) is an assistive technology designed to aid the visually impaired in perceiving visual aspects of their environment located beyond touch. In order to better understand the learning process of that assistive aid, we trained four blind participants with the Brainport®, the last version of the TVSS, where the transformed visual images are explored by the tongue. More specifically, this article aims to investigate the initial stage of this learning process, in terms both of participants' performance and their qualitative experience. The training, conducted according to the clinical-pedagogic method, produced data both from the first-person and the third-person point of view. Data were gathered through records of participants' performance and explanation interviews. Results show that the main difficulties arising during the process concerned sensory-motor coupling, body and head movement, and the gap between actual and expected quality of the perceptual experience.

O aprendizado da utilização da substituição sensorial visuo-tátil por pessoas com deficiência visual: primeiras experiências e estratégias metodológicas / The learning of the use of the tactile-vision sensory substitution by people with visual disability: first experiences and methodological strategies

O sistema de substituição tátil-visual (TVSS) é uma tecnologia assistiva criada para ajudar deficientes visuais a perceberem aspectos visuais de seu ambiente através do tato e contribuir para sua inclusão social. Para melhor entender o processo de aprendizagem dessa tecnologia, quatro participantes cegos foram treinados com o Brainport®, a última versão do TVSS, onde imagens visuais transformadas são exploradas pela língua. O artigo objetiva de investigar o estágio inicial desse processo de aprendizagem, em termos tanto do desempenho dos participantes quanto da qualidade de sua experiência. O treinamento, conduzido de acordo com um método clínico-pedagógico, produziu dados em terceira pessoa e em primeira pessoa. Os dados foram obtidos através de registros de desempenho e de entrevistas de explicitação. Os resultados mostram que as maiores dificuldades surgidas foram relativas ao acoplamento sensório-motor, aos movimentos do corpo e da cabeça e à dissonância entre as expectativas e a qualidade da experiência perceptiva.(AU)

The tactile-vision-substitution-system (TVSS) is an assistive technology designed to aid the visually impaired in perceiving visual aspects of their environment located beyond touch. In order to better understand the learning process of that assistive aid, we trained four blind participants with the Brainport®, the last version of the TVSS, where the transformed visual images are explored by the tongue. More specifically, this article aims to investigate the initial stage of this learning process, in terms both of participants' performance and their qualitative experience. The training, conducted according to the clinical-pedagogic method, produced data both from the first-person and the third-person point of view. Data were gathered through records of participants' performance and explanation interviews. Results show that the main difficulties arising during the process concerned sensory-motor coupling, body and head movement, and the gap between actual and expected quality of the perceptual experience.(AU)