Audomni : Super-Scale Sensory Supplementation to Increase the Mobility of Blind and Low-Vision Individuals - A Pilot Study

• Objective: Blindness and low vision have severe effects on individuals' quality of life and socioeconomic cost; a main contributor of which is a prevalent and acutely decreased mobility level. To alleviate this, numerous technological solutions have been proposed in the last 70 years; however, none has become widespread. Method: In this paper, we introduce the vision-to-audio, super-scale sensory substitution/supplementation device Audomni; we address the field-encompassing issues of ill-motivated and overabundant test methodologies and metrics; and we utilize our proposed Desire of Use model to evaluate proposed pilot user tests, their results, and Audomni itself. Results: Audomni holds a spatial resolution of 80 x 60 pixels at 1.2° angular resolution and close to real-time temporal resolution, outdoor-viable technology, and several novel differentiation methods. The tests indicated that Audomni has a low learning curve, and several key mobility subtasks were accomplished; however, the tests would benefit from higher real-life motivation and data collection affordability. Conclusion: Audomni shows promise to be a viable mobility device - with some addressable issues. Employing Desire of Use to design future tests should provide both high real-life motivation and relevance to them. Significance: As far as we know, Audomni features the greatest information conveyance rate in the field, yet seems to offer comprehensible and fairly intuitive sonification; this work is also the first to utilize Desire of Use as a tool to evaluate user tests, a device, and to lay out an overarching project aim.

Ämnesord

TEKNIK OCH TEKNOLOGIER  -- Elektroteknik och elektronik -- Signalbehandling (hsv//swe)

ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY  -- Electrical Engineering, Electronic Engineering, Information Engineering -- Signal Processing (hsv//eng)

NATURVETENSKAP  -- Data- och informationsvetenskap -- Datorseende och robotik (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Computer and Information Sciences -- Computer Vision and Robotics (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

assistive technology

audio user interfaces

Audomni

blind

desire of use

electronic travel aids

human computer interaction

low-vision

mobility aids

sensory aids

sensory substitution/supplementation

sonification

user centered design

visually impaired

wearable computers

Publikations- och innehållstyp

art (ämneskategori)

ref (ämneskategori)