FLIPPS for the Blind: an object detector for medium distances using concerted fingertip stimulation

  • Authors:

  • Hans-Heinrich Bothe;Sermed Al-Hamdani

  • Affiliations:

  • Technical University of Denmark, Lyngby and Technical University of Berlin, Berlin;Technical University of Denmark, Lyngby

  • Venue:
  • ICCHP'10 Proceedings of the 12th international conference on Computers helping people with special needs
  • Year:
  • 2010

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Abstract

The idea of FLIPPS is to design, implement, and evaluate a vibro-tactile device that is composed of a photo diode, vibro-tactile stimulator, micro-controller and power supply. The stimulator is attached to the finger tip and activated when light illumination exceeds a defined threshold. The subject (blind person) receives the reflected light from the objects and, based on brain plasticity principles, can interactively learn to construct a mental image of the objects and of the scenery. The FLIPPS idea is based on sensory substitution theory; here, substituting visual inputs by haptic vibrations.