DOI
https://doi.org/10.25772/FXCK-4Z57
Defense Date
2013
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Science
Department
Biomedical Engineering
First Advisor
Peter Pidcoe
Second Advisor
Dianne Pawluk
Abstract
This research was designed to investigate the fundamental nature in which blind people utilize audible cues to attend to their surroundings. Knowledge on how blind people respond to external spatial stimuli is expected to assist in development of better tools for helping people with visual disabilities navigate their environment. There was also interest in determining how blind people compare to sighted people in auditory localization tasks. The ability of sighted individuals, blindfolded individuals, and blind individuals in localizing spatial auditory targets was assessed. An acoustic display board allowed the researcher to provide multiple sound presentations to the subjects. The subjects’ responses in localization tasks were measured using a combination of kinematic head tracking and eye tracking hardware. Data was collected and analyzed to determine the ability of the groups in localizing spatial auditory targets. Significant differences were found among the three groups in spatial localization error and temporal patterns.
Rights
© The Author
Is Part Of
VCU University Archives
Is Part Of
VCU Theses and Dissertations
Date of Submission
December 2013