Use of a Haptic Glove-Gaming Interface to Stimulate Kinaesthetic and Auditory Coordination in Blind Children

Abstract

Gaming develops coordination,
problem-solving skills, quick movement and
manipulation making the youth more alert, swift in
reaction, for real-time decision making skills.
These are skills to be honed by the visually
impaired as they need them for survival. With 1.4
million blind children in the world, accounting for
70 million „blind-years‟, this platform aims at
improving their Hand-Sound coordination along
with all other tactile decision-making reflexes. This
platform, “Beyond Vision”, is a fast-paced brain
training environment that demands coordination of
motor skills, through a haptic-feedback glove, with
the sound dynamics in the virtual environment, to
enable coordinated decision making, use of
strategies, thus effectively increasing their
sensitivity to sound and touch. The blind are
extremely sensitive to interaural differences and
this has been utilised to create a computersimulated environment that helps them to orient
themselves to their surroundings. The primary
aspects of this application are the gaming interface
with a 3D sound system (for skill development) ,
the training-analysis system ( that lays focus on the
user‟s sensory ability) and the haptic glove, that
communicates with the game software, thus
creating an intuitive experience through tactile
feedback. To further serve the purpose of seamless
interaction between the digital and real world, the
game implements a combination of Reinforcement
and Imitation Learning, along with
a simple data analyser that tracks the individual‟s
progress, guiding him through the „levels‟. Once
implemented on a larger scale, even real-life
locations can be virtually modelled to emulate
specific situations.