Development and evaluation of a tactile display for a tactile vocoder

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Wada, Chikamune | Shoji, Hisakazu | Ifukube, Tohru

Affiliations: Research Institute for Electronic Science, Hokkaido University, N12 W6, Kita-ku, Sapporo 060-0812, Japan

Abstract: We have been studying a tactile vocoder which can convert speech information into tactile stimulation patterns as an aid to lipreading for deaf people. At present, we are trying to manufacture a portable tactile vocoder in cooperation with a manufacturer of electronic products. Specifically, we have made a small tactile display which presents vibratory stimulations to a finger. In this paper, we have investigated the mechanical characteristics of the tactile display and evaluated its usefulness through a consonant identification test. From the results, the average identification rate was found to be about 55% conclude that this new tactile display was relatively practical.

Keywords: hearing impaired, auditory substitute, tactile display, tactile vocoder, vibratory stimulation

DOI: 10.3233/TAD-1999-11305

Journal: Technology and Disability, vol. 11, no. 3, pp. 151-159, 1999