Sonification of Colour and Depth in a Mobility Aid for Blind People

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Date
2010-06Author
Pun, Thierry
Deville, Benoit
Bologna, Guido
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Show full item recordAbstract
The See Color interface transforms a small portion of a colored
video image into sound sources represented by spatialized
musical instruments. Basically, the conversion of colors into
sounds is achieved by quantization of the HSL color system.
Our purpose is to provide visually impaired individuals with a
capability of perception of the environment in real time. In this
work the novelty is the simultaneous sonification of color and
depth, depth being coded by sound rhythm. Our sonification
model is illustrated by several experiments, such as: (1)
detecting an open door in order to go out from the office; (2)
walking in a hallway and looking for a blue cabinet; (3)
walking in a hallway and looking for a red tee shirt; (4) moving
outside and avoiding a parked car. Videos with sounds of
experiments are available on
http://www.youtube.com/guidobologna.