Blindness enhances auditory obstacle circumvention: Assessing echolocation, sensory substitution, and visual-based navigation.

ABSTRACT: Performance for an obstacle circumvention task was assessed under conditions of visual, auditory only (using echolocation) and tactile (using a sensory substitution device, SSD) guidance. A Vicon motion capture system was used to measure human movement kinematics objectively. Ten normally sighted participants, 8 blind non-echolocators, and 1 blind expert echolocator navigated around a 0.6 x 2 m obstacle that was varied in position across trials, at the midline of the participant or 25 cm to the right or left. Although visual guidance was the most effective, participants successfully circumvented the obstacle in the majority of trials under auditory or SSD guidance. Using audition, blind non-echolocators navigated more effectively than blindfolded sighted individuals with fewer collisions,

SUBMITTER: Kolarik AJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5391114 | biostudies-literature | 2017

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature