Cross-modal codification of images with auditory stimuli: a language for the visually impaired
Abstract
In this study we describe a methodology to realize visual images cognition in the broader sense, by a cross-modal stimulation through the auditory channel. An original algorithm of conversion from bi-dimensional images to sounds has been established and tested on several subjects. Our results show that subjects where able to discriminate with a precision of 95\% different sounds corresponding to different test geometric shapes. Moreover, after brief learning sessions on simple images, subjects where able to recognize among a group of 16 complex and never-trained images a single target by hearing its acoustical counterpart. Rate of recognition was found to depend on image characteristics, in 90% of the cases, subjects did better than choosing at random. This study contribute to the understanding of cross-modal perception and help for the realization of systems that use acoustical signals to help visually impaired persons to recognize objects and improve navigation
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.1705.05074,
title = {Cross-modal codification of images with auditory stimuli: a language for the visually impaired},
author = {Takahisa Kishino and Sun Zhe and Roberto Marchisio and Ruggero Micheletto},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1705.05074},
year = {2017}
}