A Haptic Interface for an Indoor-Walk-Guide Simulator.

We are developing a haptic-sensable system to help a blind person understand 3D shapes. As a first attempt we have implemented a pathway simulator which simulates a guiding of a pathway through haptic recognition. If we could indicate a pathway by haptic means to the user, i.e., if we simulate a feeling sensed in his palm and caused by a sliding long cane along the pathway, we believe it might give him an on-site feeling of the pathway. The purpose of this haptic pathway simulator is to help a user with his making a mental map of the pathway. So in the simulator we provide guiding information of the surroundings verbally as well. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]