Tactile Guidance of Movement

Abstract

In some prototype mobility aids for the blind information about the environment is obtained with the aid of patterns within a matrix of tactile point stimuli. The aim of this report is to summarize some experiments on the possibilities of guiding movements in 3-D space by devices of this kind, the movements studied being: (1) batting a ball, (2) walking and pointing to a target, and (3) slalom walking. The results were that movements could be guided by such a matrix with reasonable precision and time consumption. There are many remaining problems, especially in a cluttered environment, but they can be expected to be decreased if we are able to increase our knowledge about how touch, or rather the haptic system, is functioning, and if we can utilize this knowledge in constructing more effective tactile displays.