Vision substitution experiments with see ColOr

Abstract

See ColOr is a mobility aid for visually impaired people that uses the auditory channel to represent portions of captured images in real time. A distinctive feature of the See ColOr interface is the simultaneous coding of colour and depth. Four main modules were developed, in order to replicate a number of mechanisms present in the human visual systems. In this work, we first present the main experiments carried out in the first years of the project; among them : the avoidance of obstacles, the recognition and localization of objects, the detection of edges and the identification of coloured targets. Finally, we introduce new undergoing experiments in Colombia with blind persons, whose purpose is (1) to determine and to touch a target; (2) to navigate and to find a person; and (3) to find particular objects. Preliminary results illustrate encouraging results. © 2013 Springer-Verlag.