Main description:

During September 10-14, 1984, we held a Research Workshop at the Lake Arrowhead Conference Center, California, bringing togeth er leaders in the field of electronic spatial sensors for the blind from the psychology, engineering, and rehabilitation areas. Our goal was to engage these groups in discussion with one another about prospects for the future of electronic spatial sensing, in the light of emerging technologies and the increasing sophistica tion of behavioral research related to this field. The papers in this book give an update on several of the key research traditions in thi s fi e 1 d. Broader overvi ews are provi ded in the paper by Brabyn, and in our Historical Overview, Final Commentary and the Introductions to each section. In a field as complex as this, some overlap of discussion is desirable and the reader with a serious interest in this field is advised to sample several opinions. This volume, and the conference on which it is based, received assistance from many people and organizations. The Scientific Affai rs Divi sion of the North Atl antic Treaty Organization sup ported the conference as part of their program of Advanced Research Workshops, and the Science and Technology to Aid the Handicapped Program of the National Science Foundation provided additional major financial support. The Center for Social and Behavioral Sciences Research of the University of California, Riverside provided financial as well as major logistical support.

Contents:

Review Section.- Historical Overview.- A Review of Mobility Aids and Means of Assessment.- Technologies of Spatial Sensing.- On Mobility Aids for the Blind.- Computer Vision Requirements in Blind Mobility Aids.- Computer Vision for the Blind.- Sensory Aids to Spatial Perception for Blind Persons: Their Design and Evaluation.- Physical Principles Underlying Blind Guidance Prostheses with an Emphasis on the Ultrasonic Exploration of a Region of Space.- Comment: Three New Blind Guidance Prostheses and What they Teach Us.- Microprocessor Techniques Applied to Ultrasonic Pulse/Echo Travel Aids for the Blind.- Tactile Vision Substitution: Some Instrumentation and Perceptual Considerations.- Studies of the Use of Spatial Sensors.- Evaluating Mobility Aids: An Evolving Methodology.- Training the Use of Artificial Spatial Displays.- Sensory Substitution of Vision by Audition.- Sonar Sensory Aid and Blind Children's Spatial Cognition.- Spatial Awareness Training of Blind Children Using the Trisensor.- Sensory Substitution in Blind Children and Neonates.- Use of Sonar Sensors with Human Infants.- Developmental Brain Research, Deprivation, and Sensory Aids.- Comment: Animal Models of Plasticity and Sensory Substitution.- Rehabilitation Issues.- Vision Prosthesis and Aids: Readiness or Appropriateness.- Technology and the Blind Person: Corridors of Insensitivity.- Perceptual and Cognitive Considerations.- On Replacement and Problem Solving Potentials of Spatial Aids for the Blind.- Implications of Perceptual Theory for the Development of Non-Visual Travel Aids for the Visually Impaired.- Amodal Information and Transmodal Perception.- Understanding Perceived Spatial Layout of Scenes: A Prerequisite for Prostheses for Blind Travelers.- The Cognitive Foundations of Mobility.- Comment: Issues in Travel Aid Design.- Comment: Machine Visual Guidance for the Blind.- Mobility and Orientation Processes of the Blind.- Final Commentary.