Tactile Vision Substitution with Tablet and Electro-Tactile Display

We developed a device that converts visual information on a tablet into tactile information on the fingertip. To achieve this we mount optical sensors and a tactile display on the fingertip. Our first prototype using a vibrator for each finger revealed that it was difficult to recognize the information of the display, mainly because of its low resolution. We addressed this limitation in our second prototype by using electro-tactile stimulation. From our preliminary experiment with a mechanical pin matrix, we decided to use a single index finger. In a subsequent alphabet recognition experiment, we confirmed that it is possible to recognize relatively complex shapes on a tablet with the device. Furthermore, we observed that the learning curve is quite steep, which implies the potential of the device.