Low-fi skin vision: a case study in rapid prototyping a sensory substitution system

We describe the design process we have used to develop a minimal, twenty vibration motor Tactile Vision Sensory Substitution (TVSS) system which enables blind-folded subjects to successfully track and bat a rolling ball and thereby experience `skin vision'. We have employed a lo-fi rapid prototyping approach to build this system and argue that this methodology is particularly effective for building embedded interactive systems. We support this argument in two ways. First, by drawing on theoretical insights from robotics, a discipline that also has to deal with the challenge of building complex embedded systems that interact with their environments; second, by using the development of our TVSS as a case study: describing the series of prototypes that led to our successful design and highlighting what we learnt at each stage. Categories and Subject Descriptors H.4 [Information Systems Applications]: Miscellaneous Keywords Lo-Fi Rapid Prototyping, Tactile Vision Sensory Substitution...

• Type: Conference
• Year: 2009
• Where: BCSHCI
• Authors: Jon Bird, Paul Marshall, Yvonne Rogers
• Keywords: BCSHCI 2007, BCSHCI 2009, Lo-fi Rapid Prototyping, Tactile Vision Sensory, Vision Sensory Substitution