A researcher at Tel Aviv University has developed a software tool to help blind and visually impaired people navigate through unfamiliar places. BlindAid lets users explore a three-dimensional world on their computer screen; by providing haptic feedback through a joystick, the program allows users to develop a mental map of the space. “This tool lets the blind ‘touch’ and ‘hear’ virtual objects and deepens their sense of space, distance and perspective,” says Dr. Orly Lahav, who developed the application. “They can ‘feel’ intersections, buildings, paths, and obstacles with the joystick, and even navigate inside a shopping mall or a museum like the Louvre in a virtual environment before they go out to explore on their own.” Link to press release from American Friends of Tel Aviv University.
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