Dynamics of shape recognition through a minimal visuo-tactile sensory substitution interface

TL;DRAbstract

We tackled the question of the constitution of a perception of shape within the framework of experiments requiring the tactile discrimination and recognition of two-dimensional pictures (characters). We developed a sensory substitution device [1][2] allowing to generate binary tactile stimuli during the exploration of black-and-white images. The experimental setup is composed of a graphic tablet, a computer and a tactile stimulus generator. Tactile stimuli were produced by small electromagnetic transducers producing 250 Hz vibrations. The position of the stylus on the tablet defines the current position of a pointer on a bitmap image. Each transducer has a square receptive field with a fixed size and position defined relative to the cursor's position on the image. A transducer is activated when the corresponding receptive field contains at least one black pixel. Stylus trajectories were recorded during the tactile exploration of images. From a fundamental point of view, the major inter

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