Abstract:
A fingertip tactile vocoder for the deaf, has been designed, which has a vibrator matrix with 4x16 pins. A sweeping display method was proposed so that the stimuli were moved from right to left on a fingertip surface like electric news tape. From the experimental results, it was proven that an identification rate of the seven Japanese monosyllabic voices increased and reached 55% at a sweep speed of 10 cm/s. Furthermore, in order to improve identification rate, the usage of the convex pattern like Braille has been proposed, in addition to the sweeping display method. It was found that the identification rate of the seven Japanese monosyllabic voices increased by combining the convex pattern with the vibratory pattern, and the increment was about 20%, even though training period was 30 min. From the above results, it was concluded that the usage of the swept convex pattern besides the swept vibratory pattern was effective to increase the identification rate of speech. [Work supported by the Ministry of Education, Science and Culture, Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (A)(2) No. 06402067.]