Learning and navigating digitally rendered haptic spatial layouts

Learning spatial layouts and navigating through them rely not simply on sight but rather on multisensory processes, including touch. Digital haptics based on ultrasounds are effective for creating and manipulating mental images of individual objects in sighted and visually impaired participants. Her...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:NPJ science of learning 2023-12, Vol.8 (1), p.61-61, Article 61
Main Authors: Tivadar, Ruxandra I., Franceschiello, Benedetta, Minier, Astrid, Murray, Micah M.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
631/378/2649/1723
631/477/2811
Biomedical and Life Sciences
Blindness
Educational Technology
Haptics
Layouts
Life Sciences
Mathematical Models of Cognitive Processes and Neural Networks
Neurobiology
Neuropsychology
Neurosciences
Spatial discrimination learning
Stimuli
Tactile stimuli
Ultrasonic imaging
Visual Impairments
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Summary:Learning spatial layouts and navigating through them rely not simply on sight but rather on multisensory processes, including touch. Digital haptics based on ultrasounds are effective for creating and manipulating mental images of individual objects in sighted and visually impaired participants. Here, we tested if this extends to scenes and navigation within them. Using only tactile stimuli conveyed via ultrasonic feedback on a digital touchscreen (i.e., a digital interactive map), 25 sighted, blindfolded participants first learned the basic layout of an apartment based on digital haptics only and then one of two trajectories through it. While still blindfolded, participants successfully reconstructed the haptically learned 2D spaces and navigated these spaces. Digital haptics were thus an effective means to learn and translate, on the one hand, 2D images into 3D reconstructions of layouts and, on the other hand, navigate actions within real spaces. Digital haptics based on ultrasounds represent an alternative learning tool for complex scenes as well as for successful navigation in previously unfamiliar layouts, which can likely be further applied in the rehabilitation of spatial functions and mitigation of visual impairments.
ISSN:2056-7936
2056-7936
DOI:10.1038/s41539-023-00208-4