A Proposed Tactile Vision-Substitution System for Infants who are Blind Tested on Sighted Infants

Abstract

This article analyzes the attraction of stimulation produced by a visuotactile sensory substitution device, which was designed to provide optical information to infants who are blind via a tactile modality. The device was first tested on sighted infants, to demonstrate that this type of stimulation on the abdomen is pleasant and rewarding in comparison to visual and auditory reinforcement. The preliminary results of this research allow us to consider the possibility of developing practical visual-substitution devices for infants who are blind.