A map exploration and representation exercise was conducted with participants who were totally blind. Representations of maritime environments were presented either with a tactile map or with a digital haptic virtual map. We assessed the knowledge of spatial configurations using a triangulation technique. The results revealed that both types of map learning were equivalent.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
CraigJ. (1985). Attending to two fingers: Two hands are better than one. Perception & Psychophysics, 38, 496–511.
2.
GentazE., & GaunetF. (2006). L'inférence haptique d'une localisation spatiale chez les adultes et les enfants: Étude de l'effet du trajet et du délai dans une tâche de complètement de triangle [Haptic inference of spatial localization in adults and children: Effect of the pattern and time in a triangle-completion task]. L'année psychologique, 106, 167–190.
3.
HardwickD., McIntyreC., & PickH.Jr. (1976). The content and manipulation of cognitive maps in children and adults. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, 41, 1–55.
4.
HatwellY., StreriA., & GentazE. (2003). Touching for knowing: Cognitive psychology of haptic manual perception.Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
5.
HellerM. A., HasselbringK., WilsonK., ShanleyM., & YoneyamaK. (2004). Haptic illusions in the sighted and blind. In BallesterosS., & HellerM. A. (Eds.), Touch, blindness and neuroscience (pp. 135–144). Madrid: UNED Press.
6.
HillE. W., & RieserJ. J. (1993). How persons with visual impairments explore novel spaces: Strategies of good and poor performers. Journal of Visual Impairment & Blindness, 87, 8–15.
7.
JanssonG., & BillbergerK. (1999). The PHANToM used without visual guidance. Paper presented at the First PHANToM Users Research Symposium, 1999, Heidelberg, Germany.
8.
KitchinR. M., & JacobsonR. D. (1997). Techniques to collect and analyze the cognitive map knowledge of persons with visual imparment. Journal of Visual Impariment & Blindness, 91, 360–376.
9.
LahavO., & MioduserD. (2008). Haptic-feedback support for cognitive mapping of unknown spaces by people who are blind. International Journal of Human-Computer Studies, 66, 23–35.
10.
MillarS. (1994). Understanding and representing space: Theory and evidence from studies with blind and sighted children.New York: Oxford University Press.
11.
NemecV., SporkaA., & SlavikP. (2004). Haptic and spatial audio based navigation of visually impaired users in virtual environment using low cost devices. Lecture notes in computer science (Vol. 3196, pp. 452–459). New York: Springer.
12.
PozzoT., PapaxanthisC., StapleyP., & BerthozA. (1998). The sensorimotor and cognitive integration of gravity. Brain Research Reviews, 28, 92–101.
13.
RiceM., JacobsonR., GolledgeR., & JonesD. (2005). Design considerations for haptic and auditory map interfaces in cartography and geographic information science, Cartography and Geographic Information, 32, 381–391.
14.
RossanoM. J., & WarrenD. (1989). The importance of alignment in blind subjects’ use of tactual maps. Perception, 18, 805–816.
15.
SenotP., ZagoM., LacquanitiF., & McIntyreJ. (2005). Anticipating the effects of gravity when intercepting moving objects: Differentiating up and down based on non-visual cues. Journal of Neurophysiology, 94, 4471–4480.
Thinus-BlancC. (1996). Animal spatial cognition: Behavioural and brain approach.London: World Scientific.
18.
WickensC. (1999). Frames of reference for navigation. In GopherD., & KoriatA. (Eds.), Attention and performance XVII: cognitive regulation of performance: Interaction of theory and application (pp. 113–142). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
