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L

Professor Steven La Grow
School of Health Sciences, Massey University, Private Bag 11222, Palmerston North, 4442, New Zealand.
Tel: +64 6 356 9099
Email: S.J.LaGrow@massey.ac.nz
Publications

Current & recent projects

Activities of daily living, self-esteem and quality of life among older persons with visual impairment.
Data on activities of daily living and self-esteem gathered from 251 registered members of the Royal New Zealand Foundation of the Blind, ages 65 and older are used to determine which factors may best predict quality of life in this population.
Project start date: 06/2007
Project end date: 12/2007

Quality of life among older visually impaired persons in rural areas of North East Thailand.
Co-workers: Lilly Supaporn
Data collected from 288 older persons (60 +) living in rural regions of North East Thailand are used to determine the impact of visual impairment on quality of life among this population.
Project start date: 01/10/2007
Project end date: 31/03/2008

Impact of loneliness among older persons with vision impairment.
Co-workers: Stephan Neville and Fiona Alpass
The study is designed to quantify the rate of loneliness among older persons and identify the impact it has on health in general and, specifically, rates of depression.
Project start date: 01/11/2007
Project end date: 30/06/2008

Last updated: 31/10/2007

Yvan Lagace
HumanWare, 1030, René-Lévesque, Drummondville (Québec), Canada, J2C 5W4.
Tel.: +1 819 471 4818
Fax: +1 819 471 4828
E-mail: ca.info@humanware.com
Web: www.humanware.com

Current & recent projects

HumanWare aims to develop solutions that enable disabled people to participate effectively in today’s information intensive and highly mobile society.

Products include:

myReader – the world’s first low vision auto-reader – the SmartView desktop video magnifier and the portable PocketViewer magnifier.

The Victor Reader family of digital talking books,
the BrailleNote range of personal information management systems and Maestro, an off-the-shelf Pocket PC made accessible using text-to-speech technology, adapted applications and a tactile keyboard membrane over the PDA touch screen.

The ScannaR, a flat–bed scanner that will scan any text document and read it back to you in seconds and the Brailliant range of Braille displays.

In addition HumanWare also produces the world’s only commercialised GPS based orientation solutions for the blind – Trekker and BrailleNote GPS.

Last updated: 02/11/2005

Chris Lagarde
Schotenhof 4, Prinsenbeek 4841 RN, The Netherlands.
Tel: +31 76 5420 463
Email: clagarde@xs4all.nl

Current & recent projects

Screen Braille Communicator (SBC)
Development of the SBC which will enable interaction between people who are deafblind and others who do not know sign language. The SBC has a refreshable Braille display with a Perkins style keyboard for a a deafblind user to read and Braille. On the other side there is a Querty keyboard along with a print display for the sighted person to read and type. The refreshable Braille display is composed of 8 Braille cells with 6 electronic pins in each cell to make up the letters with the pins popping up and down.

Last updated: 02/10/2000

Dr Ecosse Lamoureux
 School of Exercise and Nutrition Sciences, Deakin University, School of Health Sciences, 221 Burwood Hwy., P.O. Box 81, Burwood 3125, Australia.
Email: ecocelle@ozemail.com.au

Current & recent projects

The Development of a Model for Support Services for Children with Low Vision
Co-workers: Gillian Cochrane (PhD Research Student), Dr Jill Keeffe
The aim of the project is to develop a model to assist national planning of support services for children with low vision. The objectives are:

Low Vision Project in Fiji
Co-workers: RoseAnne Misajon, Richard Le Mesurier, Andreas Muller, Shiao-Lan Chou, Gillian Cochrane, Ecosse Lamoureux, Melanie Larrizza, Leanne Mazzoni
In this ongoing project eye care services, especially in low vision and diabetic retinopathy will be developed as services integrated into the eye and health care system, documented and evaluated. The models of services need to be evaluated from an economic perspective and with culturally appropriate outcome measures.
The tools for cost effectiveness of eye care and rehabilitation program need to be completed to evaluate existing and new programs. Vision specific utilities need to be established using tools designed to be sensitive to vision impairment.
Whilst Vision 2020 has developed strategies for the planning an implementation of eye care projects to reach the goal of the "Right to Sight', no such strategies exist for Education for All 2015 for children with impaired vision. In this new project we will develop a model of education and rehabilitation services for children with impaired vision.

Vision Impairment and Low Vision - Burden of Eye Disease-Impact of Vision Impairment Profile (IVI)
Co-workers: Jenny Hassell, Ecosse Lamoureux, John Ferraro
The final stage of this project is to assess the outcomes of rehabilitation. Following the extraction of information from rehabilitation agency files regarding the participant's rehabilitation program, the IVI project is currently working on the statistical analysis of the data collected from those who undertook rehabilitation programs and agreed to the follow up study (242 participants). A detailed database and manual have also been constructed and an additional section is now being added to include summary information from the participants' low vision clinic files and detailed progress notes of rehabilitation programs provided to individuals.
Papers planned are: Who needs low vision care, A detailed description of low vision rehabilitation intervention provided to participants, Outcome of rehabilitation programs, Before and after paper pertinent to the impact of different eye conditions eg amd and a reduced version of the IVI for clinical use.

Project start date: May 2003
Project end date: June 2006

Last updated: 11/09/2006

Steven Landau
Touch Graphics Inc, 330 West 38 Street, Suite 1204, New York, New York 10018, United States of America.
Tel: +1 212 375 6341
Fax: +1 646 452 4211
Email: sl@touchgraphics.com
Web: www.touchgraphics.com
Publications

Current & recent projects

Touch Graphics Inc is currently working on the following R&D projects:

Applications for the Talking Tactile Tablet
National Geographic Talking Tactile Atlas of the World;
TTT Authoring Tool
Co-worker: L. Penny Rosenblum (University of Arizona);
TTT Test Taker, for delivery of standardized tests;
Interactive Audio-Tactile Interactive Workbook for College-Level Statistics.

Ping!
A way-finding system for use in science museums and other public exhibit spaces. The Ping! Concept for User-Activated Environmental Audio Beacons is discussed at www.touchgraphics.com/ping!.htm

Computer generated tactile graphic materials
Based on methods originated by Dr John Gill. See www.touchgraphics.com/cad.htm

Audio-tactile sculptures for museum exhibits.
See www.touchgraphics.com/rocket.htm and www.touchgraphics.com/ttmodels.htm

Illustrated Talking Digital Books: Extending the DAISY/NISO Specification.
See www.touchgraphics.com/DAISY.htm

Web-enabled Creation and Distribution of Audio-Tactile Maps for use in Orientation and Mobility Training.
See www.touchgraphics.com/tmap.htm

Touch the Sun: A NASA Braille Book.
See www.nasa.gov/vision/universe/solarsystem/touch_sun.html and
www.touchgraphics.com/touchthesun.htm

A Talking Tactile Crossword Puzzle game for the TTT.
See www.touchgraphics.com/crossword.htm

An audio-tactile adaptive learning environment, carried out in collaboration with Educational Testing Service.
See www.touchgraphics.com/aced.htm

Last updated: 01/11/2005

Didier Langolff
UPS-IRIT, Centre TOBIA, 118 Route de Narbonne, 31062 Toulouse Cedex 04, France.
Tel: +33 5 61 55 69 44
Fax: +33 5 61 55 82 03
Email: langolff@irit.fr
Web: www.irit.fr/ACTIVITES/TOBIA/tobia.html

Current & recent projects

MFB (Music for the Blind) : automatic transcription and creation of musical scores for the blind.
Co-workers: Nadine Jessel; Danny Levy; Bertrand Tornil
To realise a software able to transcribe musical scores in Braille automatically and to provide solutions to problems encountered to make this software accessible to the blind.

Last updated: 26/09/2001

Deborah. J. Lapolice MS; Vision Rehabilitation Coordinator
DUMC Box 3802 Durham, North Carolina 27710, United States of America.
Tel/Fax: +1 919 684 6749
Email: lap001@mc.duke.edu

Current & recent projects

The Use of Telescope Devices with Young Visually Impaired Children
Studies show that children with visual impairments have difficulty in developmental areas due to their limited experiences with the environment. This is not surprising as it is estimated that 80% of learning naturally occurs through vision. With very young children, we as professionals often overlook the use of distance devices due to the expense and lack of motor skills, even though documentation as early as the 80's have shown that children as young as 3 have been successfully taught to use low power telescopic devices. Fifteen legally blind preschoolers ages 3.1-5.8 were evaluated for distance vision using a standardized 10' acuity chart as well as informal testing such as recognition of people and objects in the environent. Presentation of a variety of telescopic devices between 2X and 4X was then provided along with training in the areas of positioning, localizing, identifying objects, scanning, tracking and focusing.

Last updated: 10/11/2004

Harvey Lauer
Hines VA Hospital Blind Center, 124 Hines, Illinois 60141, United States of America.
Tel: +1 312 343 7959
Email: hinesbrc@med.va.gov

Current & recent projects

Specialised Reading Aids for the Blind Visotoner Stereotoner

Last updated: 24/10/2001

Professor Susan J. Leat
University of Waterloo, School of Optometry, Waterloo, Ontario N2L 3G1, Canada.
Tel: +1 519 888 4567 extension 2040
Fax: +1 519 725 0784
Email: leat@sciborg.uwaterloo.ca
Web: www.optometry.uwaterloo.ca/people/leat/index.html

Current & recent projects

Image enhancement for the visually impaired
Co-worker: Ed Jernigan
Increased visibility of digital images by the application of digital image for macular disease.
Project start date: 2002
Project end date: Ongoing

Optical coherence tomography and scanning laser ophthalmoscopy measures of structural and functional changes in age-related macular degeneration.
Co-workers: M. Campbell, T. Simpson
Project start date: 2002
Project end date: ongoing

Objective and subjective measures of visual development in children.
Co-worker: Elizabeth Irving
Project start date: 2005
Project end date: ongoing

LOVIS (Low Vision Intervention Study)
Co-worker: Ian Bailey; Mark Bullimore; Gary Cutter; Bob Kleinstein; Tom Raasch
To study the low vision rehabilitation on quality of life. This study is at the stage of preliminary data collection.
Project start date: 01/06/96
Project end date: Ongoing

Stereoacuity and colour vision in children with communication difficulties
Co-worker: Dr Jocelyn Faubert
Development of a new test to measure depth perception in children with communication difficulties. The test is computer generated.
Project start date: 01/06/96
Project end date: Ongoing

Last updated: 01/11/2005

Dr Susan J. Lederman
Queens University, Department of Psychology, Kingston, Ontario K7L 3N6, Canada.
Tel: +1 613 533 2878
Fax: +1 613 533 2499
Email: lederman@post.queensu.ca
Web: psyc.queensu.ca/faculty/lederman/lederman.html
Publications

Current & recent projects

Relevant topics include tactile psychophysics (tactile sensing), haptic perception and cognition (e.g., object recognition, feature extraction, space perception in the sighted and the blind, intersensory integration; haptic interfaces for virtual and teleoprator environments; desgining a raised tactile feature and tactile code for the new Canadian banknotes to be denominated by the blind using touch; haptic face processing).

Last updated: 08/11/2004

Steven B. Leeb
Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS), Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, United States of America.
Tel: +1 617 253 9360
Fax: +1 617 258 6774
Email: sbleeb@MIT.EDU
Web: www.eecs.mit.edu/
Publications

Current & recent projects

Assistive Communication Systems for Disabled Individuals using Visible Lighting
Co-worker: Billie Louise Bentzen
A transceiver system is developed to allow conventional fluorescent lights to be used as transmitters for broadcasting audio, textual, graphical, and position information. Battery-powered, hand-held electronic devices receive the transmissions from the lights. This technology provides high quality voice transmissions or data transmissions without causing visible interference visible in the lights.

Last updated:

Dr Gordon E. Legge
University of Minnesota, Minnesota Laboratory for Low Vision Research, 75 East River Road, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455-0344, United States of America.
Tel: +1 612 6250846
Fax: +1 612 6262079
Email: legge@umn.edu
Web: vision.psych.umn.edu/legge.html

Current & recent projects

Psychophysics of reading: normal and low vision

Object Recognition and Navigation in Normal and Low Vision

Last updated: 01/11/2005

Professor Laurel E. Leigh
Orientation and Mobility Program, Department of Graduate Studies in Vision Impairment, Pennsylvania College of Optometry, 8360 Old York Road, Elkins Park, PA 19027, United States of America.
Tel: +1 215 780 1449
Fax: +1 215 780 1357
Email: Lleigh@pco.edu

Current & recent projects

Research Interests: issues related to the preparation of Orientation and Mobility (O&M) professionals and the efficacy of distance education methods specifically as they relate to the O&M curriculum.

Last updated: 07/09/2006

Lynn E. Leith
CNIB National Office, 1929 Bayview Avenue, Toronto, ON M4G 3E8, Canada.
Tel: +1 416 486 2500 Ext 7541
Fax: +1 416 480 7700
Email: lynn.leith@cnib.ca
Web: www.daisy.org and www.cnib.ca

Current & recent projects

Access to information for people with a print disability

Ms Leith is the International Training and Technical Support Coordinator for the DAISY Consortium and Manager of Audio Publishing in the CNIB Library for the Blind.

Last updated: 18/9/2006

Mr Fred Leung
The Hong Kong Society for the Blind, 248 Nam Cheong Street, Shamshuipo, Kowloon, Hong Kong.
Tel: +852 277 88332
Fax: +852 278 80040
Email: src@hksb.org.hk
Web: www.hksb.org.hk/

Current & recent projects

Development of screen access software for Chinese languages.
Project start date: 01/07/96

Last updated: 22/03/2000

Claude Liard
Laboratoire Brigitte Frybourg, CNAM-LBF/GAIB, 3 Bld Pasteur, Paris 75015, France.
Tel: +33 1 43 06 10 95
Fax: +33 1 40 56 01 77
Email: liard@cnam.fr
Web: www.cnam.fr/handicap/
Publications

Current & recent projects

Creation of technical assistance for the professional and social insertion of visually deficient or blind persons:

Sound screen system
This system consists of four loudspeakers located at the four corners of a square in the vertical plan in front of the listener. The principle of the device is to convert graphical input information into a localized sound source. The graphical forms are then converted into sounds produced by moving a virtual source. The displacement of this virtual sound source in azimuth and elevation on the plan defined by the four loudspeakers makes it possible the drawing of different shapes.

Audio-Tactile explorer of video screen
Today, text, graph and image are closely mixed to help understand the information content. This device is intended for the exploration of graphs or images presented on a computer screen. It is composed by a group of sound and tactile tools using an Optacon-II that the user can activate constantly to extract from the graphs and images which accompany a text, the information necessary. The vocation of this device is to complement the usual systems of reading of texts in Braille or per speech synthesis.

Tactile explorer of video screen
Co-worker: D. Weygand
We have realized an electronic serial line interface between an Optacon-I and a PC computer in Windows environment. This apparatus is somewhat old but still presents a better resolution than the Optacon-II. The user can explore the screen in graphic mode representation and build a proper representation of the information presented on the screen. It's a complement to the text reading system.

Video screen explorer based on TDU system
The Tongue Display Unit is a device imagined by the professor Paul Bach y Rita. We are working on an explorer using such apparatus in Windows environment in the same way that the Optacon-I and Optacon II but by exploiting the original resources of this apparatus.

Balance and cognition: sensory substitutions visuo-tactile and visuo-auditory for the blind people
This is a multi-disciplinary research project conducted by the Professor Eliana Sampaio. In tasks of balance blind people and sighted people manage differently the maintenance of the upright posture. We are studying the implication of these cognitive aspects in the organisation and in the control of the upright posture.

Display device based on " Audio-Tactile " process
This device is a text reading system. The process is based on touch and hearing senses. It combines a tactile sensor used to point the information and a speech synthesizer used to translate it into sound. In the past, different versions of this system were realised on DOS environment. Now we are working with a new technology on Windows environment.

Last updated: 01/11/2005

Terje Lindland
Senior Scientist, SINTEF Technology and Society, Department of Road and Transport Studies, Klæbuvn 153, Trondheim, Norway.
Tel: +47 7359 4715
Email: Terje.Lindland@sintef.no
Web: www.sintef.no

Current & recent projects

Research interests:

Last updated: 18/09/2006

Dr Lei Liu
Lighthouse International, Arlene R. Gordon Research Institute, 111 East 59th Street, New York, New York 10022-1202, United States of America.
Tel: +1 212 821 9502
Email: lliu@lighthouse.org
Publications

Current & recent projects

A more efficient Way to Present Text
A new rapid serial visual presentation (RSVP) method is proposed, which will allow more than one word to be presented in each display cycle, as long as the total length of the display does not exceed a pre-determined display window size. Compared to the traditional RSVP ths new method not only allows better usage of residual retinal resource but also has the potential to increase reading speed.

Spatial Vision Deficits and Retinal Photoreceptor Defects
Co-worker: Dr Aries Arditi
The retinal photoreceptor array samples images of the external world and converts light energy into neural energy. The integrity of the photoreceptor array is crucial to normal spatial vision. Many retinal diseases, such as age related macular degeneration and retinitis pigmentosa, are known to affect chiefly the photoreceptors. A series of psychophysical experiments have started which aim to reveal the relationship between the integrity of retinal photoreceptor array and spatial vision performance (visual acuity, contrast sensitivity and texture discrimination). For further information.

Last updated: 06/01/2003

Professor Amy Lobben
Department of Geography, 1251 University of Oregon, Eugene, OR 97403-1251, United States of America.
Tel: +1 541 346 4566
Fax: +1 541 346 2067
Email: lobben@uoregon.edu
Web: http://geography.uoregon.edu/department/faculty-staff/faculty/lobben/index.html

Current & recent projects

Development of Tactile Mapping Software that will be available as a free download to teachers, parents, or anyone who wants to use it.

Last updated: 07/09/2006

Karsten A. Loepelmann
University of Alberta, Department of Psychology, Edmonton, Alberta T6G 2E9, Canada.
Tel: +1 780 492 7157
Fax: +1 780 492 1768
Email: kloepelm@ualberta.ca
Web: www.psych.ualberta.ca

Current & recent projects

Studies on the nature of tactile persistence and the implications for tactile reading.

Last updated: 01/11/2005

Professor Dr Juergen Loetzsch
GFaI Sachsen e.V., Wachwitzblick 4, 01279 Dresden, Germany.
Tel: + 49 351 216 8842
Fax: + 49 351 216 8843
Email: Loetzsch@gfai-sachsen.de
Web: www.gfai-sachsen.de
Publications

Co-worker: Joachim Kraemer

Current & recent projects

eLearning for vocational training of the blind and partially sighted
Project start date: 01/07/1999
Project end date: 31/12/2002

New mobile and stationary web-based courses for education and training
Project start date: 01/01/2003
Project end date: 31/12/2006

Last updated: 24/10/2007

Dr Richard Long, Associate Professor
Western Michigan University, Department of Blindness and Low Vision Studies,
1903 West Michigan Avenue, Kalamazoo, Michigan 490085243, United States of America.
Tel: +1 616 387 8400
Email: richard.long@wmich.edu
Web: www.wmich.edu/
Publications

Current & recent projects

In the upcoming five years, research will focus on:

Project start date: 06/2007
Project end date:06/2012

Wayfinding Technologies For People with Visual Impairments: Research and Development of an Integrated Platform
Co-workers: Dr David Guth, Dr Paul Ponchilla
This project comprised a consortium of the Sendero Group, LLC; the University of California at Santa Barbara, Carnegie Mellon University, the University of Minnesota, the Smith-Kettlewell Eye Research Institute (San Francisco), and Western Michigan University. The project consisted of a variety of collaborative research and development efforts relating to large-and small-scale Wayfinding in both indoor and outdoor environments. The WMU-led components focused on (1) the identification of blind pedestrians' Wayfinding needs, (2) Wayfinding at complex traditional intersections and roundabouts; and (3) the assessment of veering.
Project start date: 01/12/2001
Project end date: 30/11/2006

Last updated: 31/10/2007

Jack M. Loomis
Department of Psychology, University of California, Santa Barbara, California 93160-9660, United States of America.
Tel: +1 805 893 2475
Fax: +1 805 893 4303
Email: loomis@psych.ucsb.edu
Web: www.psych.ucsb.edu/~loomis/
Publications

Current & recent projects

(visual space perception; visual control of locomotion; auditory space perception; spatial behavior; spatial cognition; social interaction; development of a navigation system for visually impaired people)

My research is concerned with the perceptual and cognitive processes underlying complex behavior. The basic research problems I am working on include visual space perception, auditory space perception, visual control of locomotion, navigation with and without vision, and visually-based social interaction. Much of my work involves virtual environment technology, a tool that greatly expands the possibilities for experimental research. On the applied side, I am director of a project developing a navigation aid for blind people that uses these technologies: GPS, geographic information systems (GIS), and virtual sound. In addition, I am an instrument-rated pilot with strong interests in the visual control of flight and in the improvement of flight safety.

Wayfinding Research
Co-workers: Mike May; Dr Reginald Golledge; Jim Marston; Dr Roberta Klatzky; Dr Gordon Legge; Nick Giudice; Dr Paul Ponchilla, Dr Richard Long; Dr David Guth; Dr Bill Crandall
To create a Global Positioning System (GPS) core platform around which other wayfinding systems technologies will be tested and incorporated including GPS cell phones, indoor and outdoor navigation, location specific signs. A consortium of 6 organisations with investigators from academic institutions, research centres and industry will collaborate on the project.
Project start date: 10/2001
Project end date: 09/2006

Navigating without Vision
The project consists of applied and basic research, with a decided focus on the latter. On the applied side, the team will continue refining the test-bed navigation system for the blind developed during the last four years. Their basic research is relevant to long-term development of an effective navigation system, but focuses on underlying non-visual spatial processes. There are 4 basic research topics: auditory space perception, path integration, the learning of spatial layout, and the learning of route configurations by "preview".
Project start date: 01/12/1997
Project end date: 31/05/2003

Last updated: 27/03/2002

Edmund LoPresti
President, AT Sciences, LLC, 160 N. Craig Street Suite 117, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, United States of America.
Tel: +1 412 687 1181
Email: edlopresti@at-sciences.com
Web: http://www.at-sciences.com/about/edlopresti.html

Current & recent projects

AT Sciences is dedicated to the development of innovative assistive technologies for people with disabilities, and helping transfer promising technologies from academic research to commercial availability. Our main areas of work are smart mobility devices and task guidance systems. Both projects involve sensing information about the user and his or her environment in order to provide appropriate assistance; and both areas have applications for people with visual disabilities. The American Federation for the Blind (AFB) has estimated that 9.61% of all individuals who are legally blind also use a wheelchair or scooter, and an additional 5.25% of individuals who have serious difficulties seeing (but are not legally blind) also use a wheelchair or scooter. Our smart wheelchair efforts include technology to detect obstacles in the environment, alert the wheelchair user, and take action to prevent collisions. We are also developing technology to provide reminders and task guidance using information about the person's context, including their physical location. Our focus in this work is to assist people with cognitive impairments, but the work has definite overlap with guidance technology for people with visual impairments.

Last updated: 5/9/2006

Professor Jan Lovie-Kitchin
Queensland University of Technology, School of Optometry, Kelvin Grove Campus, Victoria Park Road, Kelvin Grove, Queensland 4059, Australia.
Tel: +61 7 31385700
Fax: +61 7 31385665
Email: j.lovie-kitchin@qut.edu.au
Web: www.qut.edu.au/opt/
Publications

Current & recent projects

Critical Visual Field Size for Mobility
Co-workers: R. L. Woods, S. E. Hassan, G. P. Soong
Previous studies have shown that the remaining visual fields (VF) size has a significant effect on mobility performance of people with low vision (LV). However, the degree of VF loss at which mobility is impaired is not known. This study attempted to determine the VF size for safe and unsafe mobility performances for adults with LV.

Functional Vision Performance in Visually Impaired Children: A Comparison of Self-Reported and Performance Based Measures
Co-workers: V. Gothwal, N. Rishita (LVPrasad Eye Institute, Hyderabad, India)
Only a small number of research studies have examined the relationships between functional performance of visual tasks and self-reports of performance in visually impaired children. The aims of this study are to develop performance-based measures of functional vision in children with visual impairment and to examine the relationship between clinical measures of vision, self-reports and the performance-based measures.

Last updated: 31/10/2007

Mr Joseph Luk
Email: spinweb@josephluk.com
Web: www.cs.ubc.ca/labs/spin/people/joseph_luk.html and http://www.cim.mcgill.ca/~haptic
Publications

Current & recent projects

Mobile Haptics Interaction Design
Co-worker: Vincent Hayward

What if you could interact with your mobile phone not just with your eyes and ears, but through your sense of touch as well?

Current user interfaces for mobile and handheld computing platforms principally offer user interaction through the visual and auditory modalities. However, mobile devices may be used in a wide variety of contexts that impair the effectiveness of those modalities. At the same time, more and more functionality is being layered upon mobile devices, while the physical size of the display and keypad has remained small. These limitations in the rate of information that can be exchanged between user and device represent challenges for mobile interaction design. Haptics offers a potential solution by providing an additional sensory modality that is also especially well-suited to the demands of portable, personal devices that are in contact with the user's skin.

Working in collaboration with members of the McGill University Haptics Lab, we developed a handheld prototype that incorporates a compact, lightweight, low-power tactile display using piezoelectric actuators to stretch tiny areas of fingertip skin. This display produces a sensation that is much more naturalistic and versatile than simple vibration. The prototype is not currently wireless, but it does allow us to explore aspects of user experience related to operating a multimodal device held in the hand.

Our studies with human users have taken us on a journey of learning about what people can feel with the device, how people react to the concept of browsing a mobile web page aided by touch, and whether certain kinds of tactile cues can improve navigation performance. Along the way we also gained a better understanding of key technical issues for implementing our concept of mobile haptics: lightweight display technologies, the control model, and rapid prototyping methods for small-scale tactile user experiences.

This project is nearing completion as it reaches its goals of identifying promising areas for further mobile haptics application development and serving as a case study for a full iteration of an interaction design process. Work in the mobile haptics area will be continued by other members of the SPIN Lab and McGill Haptics Lab.

Last updated: 02/08/2006

Dr Leon Luxemburg
Aerodynamic and Turbulence Laboratory, University of Houston, PO Box 3436, Pearland, Texas 77588, United States of America.
Tel: +1 713 743 4581
Fax: +1 713 643 1153
Email: lal@hal-pc.org or lluxemburg@hotmail.com

Current & recent projects

Neural Eyes
Co-worker: Professor Valery Zimin
"Neural Eyes" is a unique device with no counterpart presently on the market. It uses ultrasonic scanning and an artificial neural network processor to transform information about external surfaces into musical sounds, so that blind and partially sighted people can form mental images and develop a "vision". The key feature of this device is that it produces music, which can create a sensation of form and distance in a blind person. The key elements of "Neural Eyes" include ultrasonic transducers, a processor chip, and a sound card. This device has received a very positive response from blind individuals who tested the device, from educators of blind children, and from faculty members at Rice University, Texas A&M University and the University of Houston.

Last updated: 30/10/2001

 

 

Last updated: 19.02.2008   © Copyright reserved