[Blindmath] Future Engineering Student

Sun Jan 3 07:40:36 UTC 2010

Hi Christine and all,

The vOICe is a visual prosthesis which means that it seeks to be an
artificial eye. Images are mapped to sounds. You then need to interpret the
sounds to work out what is in a given scene. The image to sound mapping is
mathematical and is follows.
1. The sound pans from left to right so whatever is on your left will be
sounded in your left ear and so on.

2. The pitch of the sound represents the height of an object such that the
higher the pitch the higher the object.

3. The volume of a sound represents brightness so the louder the sound the
brighter the object.

Once you get to grips with the above scheme, you can start interpreting
shapes. For instance, a vertical line will sound like a high pitch pure note
while a horizontal line will be a note that just moves from left to right.
You can indeed load spectrograms and any other shapes into the vOICe and
hear them. The vOICe also has a graphing calculator so you can enter
functions and hear what they sound like.
The premise on which the vOICe is based is as follows. Vision is a function
of the brain. Once the soundscapes are processed by the brain, the
electrical impulses that they are translated into, are the same as those
generated by the eyes when they sense objects. So, the visual cortex gets
rerecruited to process visual input when you listen to the vOICe.
Could you send me a picture or two of a spectrogram and tell me what you
need to deduce from it? I'll take a look and see what I can do. The vOICe
also has a color sensor which can be used to either determine the color of
the item in the center of the camera view or to listen to the parts of an
image that are in a particular color. You can also zoom and rotate images.

Sources for more information
1. The website of the vOICe:
http://www.seeingwithsound.com

2. My blog that deals primarily with the vOICe
http://techesoterica.wordpress.com

3. A tutorial I have written on the vOICe
http://www.sensorysubstitution.co.uk/tutorial/

4. A voice chat that Brian Shawh and I did on the vOICe
http://techesoterica.wordpress.com/2009/10/24/an-audio-chat-on-the-voice/

Finally, learning the vOICe is like learning a language. It needs practice.
Start with simple shapes and then move on to more complex ones. Also, if
anyone is interested, I can try teaching you how to use the vOICe over Skype
or MSN messenger. You will need to have it up and running so that I can hear
the soundscapes from your end.
Pranav
-----Original Message-----
From: blindmath-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:blindmath-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
Behalf Of Christine Szostak
Sent: Saturday, January 02, 2010 9:12 PM
To: Blind Math list for those interested in mathematics
Subject: Re: [Blindmath] Future Engineering Student

Hi,
  I was wondering if you could provide more information about #6 the vOICe. 
I have never heard of this product and given that I frequently work with 
spectrograms, I was curious if it will allow me to view them independently.
Many thanks,
Christine

Christine M. Szostak
Graduate Student
Language Perception Laboratory
Department of Psychology, Cognitive Area
The Ohio State University
Columbus, Ohio
szostak.1 at osu.edu
http://lpl.psy.ohio-state.edu
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Matthew Cooper" <matdawg17 at gmail.com>
To: "Blind Math list for those interested in mathematics" 
<blindmath at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Saturday, January 02, 2010 8:18 AM
Subject: Re: [Blindmath] Future Engineering Student

> Thanks!  Another software I have heard of is Matlab, which sounds
> similar to Mathematica.  Is one more accessible than the other and do
> they do similar things?  Thanks!
>
> On 1/2/10, Pranav Lal <pranav.lal at gmail.com> wrote:
>> Hi Matthew,
>>
>> 1. Mathtype
>> This is a program that lets you enter equations into Microsoft Word. It
>> replaces Word's equation editor. I believe it is accessible.
>>
>> 2. Math player
>> This is made by the same company as math type. It interfaces with screen
>> readers to provide access to MathML.
>>
>> 3. Mathematica
>> This is a program to do math and solve equations.
>>
>> 4. An audio graphing calculator
>> |This is a program that allows you to enter functions and then solve. 
>> Graphs
>> can be plotted and can be perceived using audio.
>>
>> 5. iFeel pixel software and Novint Falcon haptic device).
>> This is a tactile force feedback device. It may allow you to see graphs 
>> and
>> pictures but I do not know how well it works.
>>
>> 6. To add to your list, the vOICe
>> This is a visual prosthesis and can be used to perceive complex images.
>>
>> Pranav
>>
>>
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>
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du 

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