Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Prototype Development of a Low-Cost Vibro-Tactile Navigation Aid for the Visually Impaired

  • Conference paper
  • First Online:
Computers Helping People with Special Needs (ICCHP 2018)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNISA,volume 10897))

Abstract

Vibro-tactile support for navigation tasks is helpful, not only for visually impaired people. However many different prototypes exist which are not available for experimental usage or commercial ones are expensive. We developed a low-cost prototype of a wristlet and anklet that can easily be rebuild. We evaluated them in a two step procedure with 11 and 10 participants. Both prototypes are easy to use and comfortable to wear. However, the wristlet had a high error rate so that it was not used in the second test. Comparisons between the anklet and voice guidance during navigation in the second test showed the potential of vibration for navigation tasks, but implied a refinement of the design, which will be tested in further studies.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 69.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Notes

  1. 1.

    https://www.terrain-projekt.de/.

References

  1. Bosman, S., Groenendaal, B., Findlater, J.W., Visser, T., de Graaf, M., Markopoulos, P.: GentleGuide: an exploration of haptic output for indoors pedestrian guidance. In: Chittaro, L. (ed.) Mobile HCI 2003. LNCS, vol. 2795, pp. 358–362. Springer, Heidelberg (2003). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-45233-1_28

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  2. Dim, N.K., Ren, X.: Investigation of suitable body parts for wearable vibration feedback in walking navigation. Int. J. Hum-Comput. Stud. 97, 34–44 (2017)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Schätzle, S., Ende, T., Wüsthoff, T., Preusche, C.: Vibrotac: an ergonomic and versatile usable vibrotactile feedback device. In: RO-MAN, 2010 IEEE, pp. 670–675. IEEE (2010)

    Google Scholar 

  4. Azenkot, S., Ladner, R.E., Wobbrock, J.O.: Smartphone haptic feedback for nonvisual wayfinding. In: The Proceedings of the 13th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility, pp. 281–282. ACM (2011)

    Google Scholar 

  5. Peng, E., Peursum, P., Li, L., Venkatesh, S.: A smartphone-based obstacle sensor for the visually impaired. In: Yu, Z., Liscano, R., Chen, G., Zhang, D., Zhou, X. (eds.) UIC 2010. LNCS, vol. 6406, pp. 590–604. Springer, Heidelberg (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-16355-5_45

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  6. Jacob, R., Winstanley, A., Togher, N., Roche, R., Mooney, P.: Pedestrian navigation using the sense of touch. Comput. Environ. Urban Syst. 36(6), 513–525 (2012)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Spiers, A.J., Dollar, A.M.: Outdoor pedestrian navigation assistance with a shape-changing haptic interface and comparison with a vibrotactile device. In: Haptics Symposium (HAPTICS), 2016 IEEE, pp. 34–40. IEEE (2016)

    Google Scholar 

  8. Erp, J.B.F.V., Veen, H.A.H.C.V., Jansen, C., Dobbins, T.: Waypoint navigation with a vibrotactile waist belt. ACM Trans. Appl. Percept. 2(2), 106–117 (2005)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Ross, D.A., Blasch, B.B.: Wearable interfaces for orientation and wayfinding. In: Proceedings of the Fourth International ACM Conference on Assistive Technologies, pp. 193–200. ACM (2000)

    Google Scholar 

  10. Tsukada, K., Yasumura, M.: ActiveBelt: belt-type wearable tactile display for directional navigation. In: Davies, N., Mynatt, E.D., Siio, I. (eds.) UbiComp 2004. LNCS, vol. 3205, pp. 384–399. Springer, Heidelberg (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-30119-6_23

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  11. Flores, G., Kurniawan, S., Manduchi, R., Martinson, E., Morales, L.M., Sisbot, E.A.: Vibrotactile guidance for wayfinding of blind walkers. IEEE Trans. Haptics 8(3), 306–317 (2015)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Kammoun, S., Jourais, C., Guerreiro, T., Nicolau, H., Jorge, J.: Guiding blind people with haptic feedback. In: Frontiers in Accessibility for Pervasive Computing (Pervasive 2012) (2012)

    Google Scholar 

  13. Scheggi, S., Talarico, A., Prattichizzo, D.: A remote guidance system for blind and visually impaired people via vibrotactile haptic feedback. In: 2014 22nd Mediterranean Conference of Control and Automation (MED), pp. 20–23. IEEE (2014)

    Google Scholar 

  14. Pololu Robotics and Electronics. https://www.pololu.com/product/1636. Accessed 01 2018

  15. Alzheimer, C., Deetjen, P.: Physiologie: mit ... 88 Tabellen plus CD-ROM mit Prüfungsfragen und allen Abbildungen. Elsevier, Urban & Fischer (2007)

    Google Scholar 

  16. Dzierzawski, P.: Prototypische Entwicklung einer vibro-taktilen Navigationsunterstützung für Sehgeschädigte (2017)

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank Patryk Dzierzawski for the design, development and implementation of the first study of the two prototypes.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Study Centre for the Visually Impaired, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Engesserstr. 4, 76131, Karlsruhe, Germany

    Vanessa Petrausch, Thorsten Schwarz & Rainer Stiefelhagen

Authors
  1. Vanessa Petrausch
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Thorsten Schwarz
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Rainer Stiefelhagen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Vanessa Petrausch .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Johannes Kepler University Linz, Linz, Austria

    Klaus Miesenberger

  2. National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece

    Georgios Kouroupetroglou

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2018 Springer International Publishing AG, part of Springer Nature

About this paper

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this paper

Petrausch, V., Schwarz, T., Stiefelhagen, R. (2018). Prototype Development of a Low-Cost Vibro-Tactile Navigation Aid for the Visually Impaired. In: Miesenberger, K., Kouroupetroglou, G. (eds) Computers Helping People with Special Needs. ICCHP 2018. Lecture Notes in Computer Science(), vol 10897. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-94274-2_10

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-94274-2_10

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-94273-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-94274-2

  • eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation