An electrical stimulator for sensory substitution.
This work presents an electrical stimulator system for use in sensory substitution (SS), as a mobility aid for visually handicapped people. The whole system passes visual information via cutaneous stimulation, and consists of a webcam, a PC, dedicated hardware to generate stimuli and a 15 x 20 electrode matrix. The same system can also be used in psycophysical and somesthesic research, or even for SS of deaf people, by changing the input signal from a camera to a microphone, and adapting its control software. Circuits for pixel addressing, for signal generation and for switching are described, as well as the software involved in generating a pulse train, which configures the stimuli patterns.
Pereira
Mauro C
MC
Dept. of Mechatronics Eng., Univ. Catolica Dom Bosco, Campo Grande, MS, Brazil. mauro2@ieee.org
Kassab
Fuad
F
D003201:Computers; D003638:Deafness / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000534:rehabilitation; D004558:Electric Stimulation; D004599:Electric Stimulation Therapy / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D004867:Equipment Design; D006801:Humans; D008838:Microcomputers; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012656:Self-Help Devices; D012682:Sensory Aids; D012815:Signal Processing, Computer-Assisted; D012867:Skin / Q000473:pathology*; D012984:Software; D014584:User-Computer Interface; D014785:Vision, Ocular