Action-contingent vibrotactile flow facilitates the detection of ground level obstacles with a partly virtual sensory substitution device

Improving training for sensory augmentation using the science of expertise

“…Short training sessions were chosen in studies where the intention was merely familiarise the participants with the device and the sensation before a simple task, before tracking how participants acclimatised to the device over a series of tasks (Daz et al, 2012;Levy-Tzedek et al, 2012), or when intentionally studying the effects of a minimal amount of training (Murphy et al, 2016). In contrast, longer training schemes are found in studies where the focus is the development of expert abilities, or the extent to which the user internalises the stimuli provided by the device, (Auvray et al, 2007;Kärcher et al, 2012) or where the intention was to produce effects that would persist after using the device (Robinson et al, 2009).…”

“…In several SSAD studies, total teaching lasted less than an hour (LevyTzedek et al, 2012;Wood et al, 2009;Lee et al, 2012;Daz et al, 2012). In studies where training lasted longer, sessions often followed this hour guideline.…”

“…Some examples from the SSAD literature illustrate the benefits of these two principles of active sensing. Being able to purposefully control the SSAD allows users to experience the connection between their actions and the output of an SSAD in a way that being passively presented with the same information does not, and results in more effective learning (Daz et al, 2012;Reynolds & Glenney, 2012). The benefit of being able to actively control an SSAD is further affected by whether the control is suited to the specific task.…”

“…This may be to perform simple tasks, for example we might imagine that a white cane can be used to detect obstacles using a naive strategy. Some SSAD research demonstrates that individuals can learn to interpret the information provided by an SSAD and use it to perform tasks also without extensive training, instead relying on self-directed exploration and experimentation (Poirier et al, 2006;Proulx et al, 2008;Daz et al, 2012;Levy-Tzedek et al, 2012). Perhaps an even more vivid example of expertise independent of training and one also relevant to SSADs is visually impaired individuals who use echolocation to locate objects and navigate the world without any training (Thaler et al, 2011).…”

Tactile-Sight: A Sensory Substitution Device Based on Distance-Related Vibrotactile Flow

“…An alternative version of our device [23,24] actually used different driving voltages (and hence, different intensities) for different actuators, with driving voltage being a function of distance. In vision it has been shown that fine-grained texture is exploitable for TTC perception, in addition to the main role of the tau-component defined by the outline of the approaching object [30].…”