A dynamic tactile map as a tool for space organization perception: application to the design of an electronic travel aid for visually impaired and blind people.

This paper addresses a new concept of visuotactile human-machine interface for a certain representation of the peripersonnal space, especially useful for visually impaired and blind people navigation. The proposed space representation have been successfully implemented on a tactile device and validated via series of experiments involving naive blindfolded sighted people. Results show that is possible to interact with the space via the proposed tactile representation.