title: Mobility performance with a pixelized vision system.
abstract: A visual prosthesis, based on electrical stimulation of the visual cortex, has been suggested as a means for partially restoring functional vision in the blind. The prosthesis would create a pixelized visual sense consisting of punctate spots of light (phosphenes). The present study investigated the feasibility of achieving visually-guided mobility with such a visual sense. Psychophysical experiments were conducted on normally sighted human subjects, who were required to walk through a maze which included a series of obstacles, while their visual input was restricted to information from a pixelized vision simulator. Walking speed and number of body contacts with obstacles and walls were measured as a function of pixel number, pixel spacing, object minification, and field of view. The results indicate that a 25 x 25 array of pixels distributed within the foveal visual area could provide useful visually guided mobility in environments not requiring a high degree of pattern recognition.
authors.affiliation: Department of Bioengineering, University of Utah, Salt Lake City 84112.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Cha
authors.forename: K W
authors.initials: KW
authors.lastname: Horch
authors.forename: R A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Normann
mesh_terms: D001766:Blindness / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D004558:Electric Stimulation; D006801:Humans; D008124:Locomotion / Q000502:physiology*; D010719:Phosphenes / Q000502:physiology; D019736:Prostheses and Implants; D014785:Vision, Ocular; D014793:Visual Cortex / Q000502:physiology*