|
VAVETaM is an acronym for Verbally Assisting Virtual Environment
Tactile Maps. This research project aims at making spatial information accessible to
blind and visually impaired people in the form of tactile maps. Tactile maps are
realized by using the Sensable PHANToM, a haptic Human-Computer-Interface. This
interface enables the perception of virtual three-dimensional objects by touch.
Nevertheless, it is useful to augment tactile exploration with verbal assistance:
Firstly, verbal assistance is an efficient way to communicate information that would
be realized as written annotation on a visual map (i.e. street names). Secondly, the
multi-modal scenario eases the acquisition of certain spatial information, such as
streets being parallel, which cannot easily be perceived in the mono-modal tactile
scenario. Scientific questions are which verbal information should be given in which
situation and how to design their semantic representation. From the perspecitve of
the perception interaction the incremental recognition and hierarchical conceptualization of the user's interaction
with the virtual haptic environment and the resulting attribution of knowledge
gained from the exploration is researched. |
