Seeing with Sound (sensory substitution for the blind) скачать в хорошем качестве

Seeing with Sound (sensory substitution for the blind)

The vOICe seeing-with-sound technology for the totally blind ( http://www.seeingwithsound.com ) featured by Rick Lockridge on TechTV in "Tech Live", reporting about blind user Pat Fletcher. A higher quality version of the video clip is at the URL http://www.seeingwithsound.com/media/... "It's like it has dredged up memories of sight," Fletcher said. "The sounds trigger the memory for me." Fletcher is the No. 1 beta tester of The vOICe System. The three middle letters in vOICe stand for "Oh, I see." Invented by Peter B. L. Meijer, The vOICe software translates images from the camera on-the-fly into closely corresponding sounds, allowing users to "see" live camera views of their surrounding environment using their ears. The method is not based on sonar or echolocation, but instead uses real visual input from a normal webcam. It allows blind people carrying a notebook PC equipped with a webcam to hear live views from their environment through stereo headphones. Thus, they hear the very same shapes and things that their sighted friends see. "Over time, your mind gets used to the patterns," Fletcher said. "It likes to see." TechTV recently visited Meijer in Eindhoven, Netherlands. "The image gets scanned from left to right," Meijer said about his invention. "And pitch is associated with the height in the image. You hear little soundbursts corresponding to all the little bright squares." But Meijer is quick to point out The vOICe's shortcomings - it does not convey depth perception, it can't track moving cars, and it's hard to master, he said. However, he said he hopes smarter cameras and faster laptops will fix those problems in the future. "I would be most satisfied if I could demonstrate that this system can provide a, let's say, level of low vision to blind people," Meijer said. Fletcher says she believes he's already succeeded. "Primitive though it is, it adds that extra extension that enables me to live in the world comfortably and happily," she said.