Assistive Navigation Device for Visually Impaired—A Study on Reaction Time to Tactile Modality Stimuli

Jing Yu, Knut Moeller

Institute of Technical Medicine, Furtwangen University, Furtwangen im Schwarzwald, Germany.

DOI: 10.4236/eng.2013.510B041                

Abstract

A tactile system to support severe visually-impaired or blind people in the world for their orientation and navigation had been developed. To optimize the design, some parameters of tactile display device were evaluated. In the present paper,we focused on the reaction time to tactile stimuli. In the test, the stimuli were produced through a vibration belt that was worn around the participants’ waist. In the choice reaction time task, the participants had to click corresponding arrow keys according to the location of a tactile signal. The findings of this study provided a reference of the reaction time range, so as to design a more effective and safe tactile navigation system.

Keywords

Tactile Display; Reaction Time; Skin Receptor; Assistive Technology; Vibration Belt

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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