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Mixed Reality Tailored to the Visually-Impaired

The goal of the proposed device and software architecture is to apply the functionality of mixed reality (MR) in order to make a virtual environment that is more accessible to the visually-impaired. We propose a glove-based system for MR that will use finger and hand movement tracking along with tactile feedback so that the visually-impaired can interact with and obtain a more detailed sense of virtual objects and potentially even virtual environments. The software architecture makes current MR frameworks more accessible by augmenting the existing software and extensive 3D model libraries with both the interfacing of the glove-based system and the audibly navigable user interface (UI) of a virtual environment we have developed. We implemented a circuit with finger flexion/extension tracking for all 5 fingers of a single hand and variable vibration intensities for the vibromotors on all 5 fingertips of a single hand. The virtual environment can be hosted on a Windows 10 application. The virtual hand and its fingers can be moved with the system's input and the virtual fingertips touching the virtual objects trigger vibration motors (vibromotors) to vibrate while the virtual objects are being touched. A rudimentary implementation of picking up and moving virtual objects inside the virtual environment is also implemented. In addition to the vibromotor responses, text to speech (TTS) is also implemented in the application for when virtual fingertips touch virtual objects and other relevant events in the virtual environment.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:unt.edu/info:ark/67531/metadc1986407
Date08 1900
CreatorsOmary, Danah M
ContributorsMehta, Gayatri, Mahbub, Ifana, Namuduri, Kamesh
PublisherUniversity of North Texas
Source SetsUniversity of North Texas
LanguageEnglish
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeThesis or Dissertation
FormatText
RightsPublic, Omary, Danah M, Copyright, Copyright is held by the author, unless otherwise noted. All rights Reserved.

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