A computer-implemented method and a navigation system are described for guiding a visually impaired user to avoid obstructions and impediments while walking. The user may wear a plurality of subassemblies of the system. The tilt and rotation of the user's head may be monitored using one of the subassemblies worn on the user's head. Based at least in part on the tilt and rotation of the user's head, vertical and horizontal firing angles used by a distance measuring unit in each of the subassemblies may be calculated to transmit and receive laser signals to perform measurements. The user is then provided with navigation instructions and alarms based on whether an obstruction or an impediment is detected that is closer than a predetermined distance to the user while the user is walking based on the measurements.

A computer-implemented method and a navigation system are described for guiding a visually impaired user to avoid obstructions and impediments while walking. The user may wear a plurality of subassemblies of the system. The tilt and rotation of the user's head may be monitored using one of the subassemblies worn on the user's head. Based at least in part on the tilt and rotation of the user's head, vertical and horizontal firing angles used by a distance measuring unit in each of the subassemblies may be calculated to transmit and receive laser signals to perform measurements. The user is then provided with navigation instructions and alarms based on whether an obstruction or an impediment is detected that is closer than a predetermined distance to the user while the user is walking based on the measurements.

There is provided herein a method for assessing a speech/lingual quality of a subject, the method comprising: providing a content-containing stimulus to a user; recording the user's vocal response to the stimulus and/or to instructions related thereto; processing the user's recorded vocal response to measure/extract/compute at least one linguistics (prosodic) parameter and at least one acoustic parameter; transforming the user's vocal response into a transformed text section, which is based on a processing unit's interpretation of the user's verbal response; comparing the transformed text section to a predetermined text section, which represents the user's expected; and computing an output signal indicative of at least one speech/lingual quality of the user, based at least on data resulted from the texts comparison, the at least one measured/extracted/computed linguistic parameter and the at least one acoustic parameter.

A method and system for determining visual related physical conditions of a user of a display device, determined from the user's responses to a selection of visual-tasks. A dataset is provided for correlating the user's responses with the corresponding scores, so that by measuring the degree of correlation between the user's scores and a predetermined combination of the corresponding scores, the user's visual physical condition can be determined. A system is also provided, including a user device as well as a remote server for providing visual acuity and related testing to detect certain vision deficiencies and visual related physical conditions. In addition, a user device application is provided.

This disclosure relates to an electronic device for compensating for a visual impairment. The electronic device comprises a display to display a graphical user interface to a user and an input port to receive a request for modifying the graphical user interface to compensate for a visual impairment of the user. The device further comprises a processor to modify the graphical user interface to compensate for a visual impairment of the user by replicating an optical effect of one or more optical lenses. A visually impaired user can operate the device because the processor modifies the interface to compensate for the visual impairment. Without the modification of the interface, it would be difficult for the user to operate the device because the visual impairment causes the interface to appear blurred.

In certain embodiments, secure data presentation may be facilitated for a tactile system. In some embodiments, the tactile system may include a display having carbon nanotube-based components having a surface that absorbs at least 96% of visible light. The tactile system may obtain tactile data and present the tactile data on the display by adjusting one or more positions of the carbon nanotube-based components based on the tactile data. In some embodiments, the tactile system may obtain environmental data (e.g., lighting data, presence data, etc.) for an environment (in which the display is located) and perform the adjustment of the positions of the carbon nanotube-based components based on (i) the tactile data and (ii) the environmental data.

One embodiment of a system for presenting audio and tactile representations of visual and non-visual items includes obtaining (1) items, acquiring (2) a primary item and acquiring (3) secondary items according to criteria, and processing (4) the acquired items into the form of categorically-perceived audio and/or tactile effects (for example speech sounds), the primary and secondary items being distinguishable via categorically-distinct effects such as echo, reverberation, voice character, tactile effects, and stereophonic and/or tactile location. The resultant effects are typically presented (6) to an auditory and/or tactile display, allowing people can have their focus of attention directed to primary items, and simultaneously be made aware of secondary items. The magnitude of the effects can relate to the values of certain properties of the items (5). Facilities are provided for presenting and navigating multi-level representations of visual scenes and non-visual entities, interfacing to other systems, and interpreting entities from different viewpoints. Other embodiments are described and shown.

An apparatus for processing a speech signal is provided. The apparatus includes a communicator comprising communication circuitry configured to transmit and receive data, an actuator comprising actuation circuitry configured to generate vibration and to output a signal, a formant enhancement filter configured to increase a formant of the speech signal, and a controller comprising processing circuitry configured to control the speech signal to be received through the communicator, to estimate at least one formant frequency from the speech signal based on linear predictive coding (LPC), to estimate a bandwidth of the at least one formant frequency, to determine whether the speech signal is a voiced sound or a voiceless sound, to configure the formant enhancement filter based on the at least one formant frequency, the bandwidth of the at least one formant frequency, characteristics of the determined voiced sound or voiceless sound, and signal delivery characteristics of a human body, to apply the formant enhancement filter to the speech signal, and to control the speech signal to which the formant enhancement filter is applied to be output using the actuator through the human body.

An apparatus for processing a speech signal is provided. The apparatus includes a communicator comprising communication circuitry configured to transmit and receive data, an actuator comprising actuation circuitry configured to generate vibration and to output a signal, a formant enhancement filter configured to increase a formant of the speech signal, and a controller comprising processing circuitry configured to control the speech signal to be received through the communicator, to estimate at least one formant frequency from the speech signal based on linear predictive coding (LPC), to estimate a bandwidth of the at least one formant frequency, to determine whether the speech signal is a voiced sound or a voiceless sound, to configure the formant enhancement filter based on the at least one formant frequency, the bandwidth of the at least one formant frequency, characteristics of the determined voiced sound or voiceless sound, and signal delivery characteristics of a human body, to apply the formant enhancement filter to the speech signal, and to control the speech signal to which the formant enhancement filter is applied to be output using the actuator through the human body.

A haptic feedback device for providing haptic sensation comprises a haptic feedback interface that includes a plurality of haptic elements. The haptic feedback device detects a speed and a direction of travel associated with a plurality of moving objects in an upcoming scene of a video based on a look-ahead buffer of the video played on an external display device or the haptic feedback device. A haptic feedback is determined for the upcoming scene of the video based on the look-ahead buffer of the video and the detected speed and direction of travel associated with the plurality of moving objects. One or more movable haptic cues are generated on the haptic feedback interface using the plurality of haptic elements in synchronization with a current scene played on the external display device or the haptic feedback device, based on the determined haptic feedback.