We have several projects that are currently in progress in the lab. Brief descriptions follow. Information about completed projects and other collaborations can be found on our Research Interests, Publications, and Collaborators pages.

Evaluating Acoustic Interfaces For Presenting Environmental Information (Kit Cuddy) 

Previous research has shown that virtual acoustic displays, in which sounds are heard as emanating from a specific distance and direction in space, provide an intuitive non-visual interface for presenting environmental information [1,2]. However, research with these displays has generally focused on route guidance, or been done using sound sources that were placed at external positions in the environment (thereby providing spatialized sound from physical speakers rather than virtual headphone displays). One disadvantage of virtual sound is that it offers fewer auditory localization cues than are available from natural sound. Being able to accurately determine direction is critical for auditory perception and localization. Thus, it is necessary to know whether the same level of performance is possible from virtual displays delivering auditory signals through headphones, as is possible from natural spatial hearing. The purpose of these studies is to directly compare the accuracy of virtual acoustic displays vs. external speakers for perceiving target locations (Experiment 1), and encoding and recalling these locations from memory (Experiment 2). If differences occur, we hope to determine the nature of the perceptual bias, so it can be compensated for in future virtual acoustic displays. Results are important for determining the efficacy of virtual acoustic displays for use in real-time navigation systems (as is the goal of several projects in the lab).

[1]Loomis, J.M., Golledge, R.G., & Klatzky, R. (1998). Navigation system for the blind: Auditory display modes and guidance. Presence, 7, 193-203.

[2] Oving, A.B., Veltmann, J.A., & Bronkhorst, A. (2004). Effectiveness of 3- audio for warnings in the cockpit. Int. J. of Aviation Psychology, 14, 257-276.

3-D Modeling.

Another project being carried out by several lab members involves building richly detailed, metrically accurate 3-D models of several layouts to be used for navigation experiments. We started by modeling our lab and have now begun augmenting existing models of Boardman Hall, which houses the lab and the SIE department. Once the modeling efforts are complete, our goal for this project is to port the system to a mobile platform that would allow a person to walk around the building, whilst receiving dynamically-updated information about their location and heading. Spatialized descriptions of the surrounding geometric structure, including room numbers, building features, and other relevant landmarks would be available from an interactive query system. Experiments with this system, either in virtual environments in the lab or in the physical space, will help determine the information requirements and best delivery methods of environmental cues to support spatial learning and wayfinding.

Portable RFID Object Identifier

A third project is working on the development of an inexpensive portable device to read RFID tags that, when coupled with an onboard database, will provide accessible auditory identification for anything that the user labels. Systems exist for reading barcodes and vocalizing the contents, but they are expensive and do not allow the user to easily label their own items in their own voice. Our prototype system is made at 1/12 the price of the leading barcode reader and enables a blind or visually impaired person to label whatever they want using their own voice tags in a small self-contained form factor.