An application of bio-feedback in the rehabilitation of the blind.

The long term blind exhibit diminished awareness of limb position; kinaesthetic feedback alone providing insufficient positional information. Experiments to evaluate simple hand held electronic travel aids for the blind have shown that failure to hold the aid in the correct orientation leads to a failure to detect important hazards. Consequently some potential users may come to reject the aid. Experimental results show that by providing an auditory alarm signal whenever an aid is not held horizontally it is possible to train subjects to maintain the correct holding position. The positive effects of short periods of training with feedback are retained when the feedback is removed. It is proposed to make available a small number of modified (with feedback) aids for use during the early stages of client training.