Haptic.vet: shape and space represented by vibrations for training visually impaired students

The second meeting of the Haptic.Vet project – Inclusive Education in Action: Cognitive Learning in VET was held in Zaragoza on 27-28 September, which saw Risorse Studio, represented by Teresa Maltese and Monica Miglionico, in training. iinformatica research for Sicily-Lucan, represented by Vito Santarcangelo, Giuseppe Odo, Angelo Lamacchia and Emilio Massa, Spanish partner Inteca, Greek partner European Institute of Teaching and Learning, Academia Humanisticsno Economiquena Luzi and Portuguese partner Academia de Formão do Norte.

The meeting included a presentation of the tactile sound concept of human-machine interaction thanks to the different vibration patterns attributed to each area of ​​the object to be reproduced. So it is possible to feel the geometric/spatial dimension of things by moving your finger on the touch of your smartphone. The first case study carried out by computer scientist and DBA Emilio Massa concerns the tactile representation of an electrical circuit, in which the circuit and individual resistors are encoded with different resistors, capacitors, and alternators through different vibrational patterns. So it is possible to follow the geometric and spatial dimension of the individual components on a concrete level.

The team present conducted a QoE (Quality of Experience) test for the application and attributed an assessment in terms of NPS to the experience.

The second case study concerns the approach of Lena’s haptic representation, the Playboy model that has become the emblem of tests of computer vision algorithms, through segmentation of individual regions (hat, feathers, face), and mustache drawing by Giambattista de Curtis, whereby ASMR sound semantics are also incorporated for each object’s textures It is represented by tactile sensations.

We are very excited to launch a new comprehensive way of representing multimedia information for blind training purposes through semantics of sound vibrations, says partners Studio Risorse and iInformatica, who add to the ambitious pilot project and will be interested in introducing with Europeans. Trainers associate skills and appropriate methodologies to create specific lessons in tactile voice mode.

A new field of research that fascinates and increasingly seeks to include and provide solutions that can improve the lives of visually impaired people.