Effects of Using Vibrotactile Feedback on Sound Localization by Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing People in Virtual Environments

Sound source localization is important for spatial awareness and immersive Virtual Reality (VR) experiences. Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing (DHH) persons have limitations in completing sound-related VR tasks efficiently because they perceive audio information differently. This paper presents and evaluates...

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Autores principales:	Mohammadreza Mirzaei, Peter Kán, Hannes Kaufmann
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	MDPI AG 2021
Materias:	virtual reality haptic feedback tactile sensation sound source localization deaf and hard-of-hearing Electronics TK7800-8360
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/b89e96ef63d64f74875c6230ffe368f8
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id	oai:doaj.org-article:b89e96ef63d64f74875c6230ffe368f8
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:b89e96ef63d64f74875c6230ffe368f82021-11-25T17:24:43ZEffects of Using Vibrotactile Feedback on Sound Localization by Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing People in Virtual Environments10.3390/electronics102227942079-9292https://doaj.org/article/b89e96ef63d64f74875c6230ffe368f82021-11-01T00:00:00Zhttps://www.mdpi.com/2079-9292/10/22/2794https://doaj.org/toc/2079-9292Sound source localization is important for spatial awareness and immersive Virtual Reality (VR) experiences. Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing (DHH) persons have limitations in completing sound-related VR tasks efficiently because they perceive audio information differently. This paper presents and evaluates a special haptic VR suit that helps DHH persons efficiently complete sound-related VR tasks. Our proposed VR suit receives sound information from the VR environment wirelessly and indicates the direction of the sound source to the DHH user by using vibrotactile feedback. Our study suggests that using different setups of the VR suit can significantly improve VR task completion times compared to not using a VR suit. Additionally, the results of mounting haptic devices on different positions of users’ bodies indicate that DHH users can complete a VR task significantly faster when two vibro-motors are mounted on their arms and ears compared to their thighs. Our quantitative and qualitative analysis demonstrates that DHH persons prefer using the system without the VR suit and prefer mounting vibro-motors in their ears. In an additional study, we did not find a significant difference in task completion time when using four vibro-motors with the VR suit compared to using only two vibro-motors in users’ ears without the VR suit.Mohammadreza MirzaeiPeter KánHannes KaufmannMDPI AGarticlevirtual realityhaptic feedbacktactile sensationsound source localizationdeaf and hard-of-hearingElectronicsTK7800-8360ENElectronics, Vol 10, Iss 2794, p 2794 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	virtual reality haptic feedback tactile sensation sound source localization deaf and hard-of-hearing Electronics TK7800-8360
spellingShingle	virtual reality haptic feedback tactile sensation sound source localization deaf and hard-of-hearing Electronics TK7800-8360 Mohammadreza Mirzaei Peter Kán Hannes Kaufmann Effects of Using Vibrotactile Feedback on Sound Localization by Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing People in Virtual Environments
description	Sound source localization is important for spatial awareness and immersive Virtual Reality (VR) experiences. Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing (DHH) persons have limitations in completing sound-related VR tasks efficiently because they perceive audio information differently. This paper presents and evaluates a special haptic VR suit that helps DHH persons efficiently complete sound-related VR tasks. Our proposed VR suit receives sound information from the VR environment wirelessly and indicates the direction of the sound source to the DHH user by using vibrotactile feedback. Our study suggests that using different setups of the VR suit can significantly improve VR task completion times compared to not using a VR suit. Additionally, the results of mounting haptic devices on different positions of users’ bodies indicate that DHH users can complete a VR task significantly faster when two vibro-motors are mounted on their arms and ears compared to their thighs. Our quantitative and qualitative analysis demonstrates that DHH persons prefer using the system without the VR suit and prefer mounting vibro-motors in their ears. In an additional study, we did not find a significant difference in task completion time when using four vibro-motors with the VR suit compared to using only two vibro-motors in users’ ears without the VR suit.
format	article
author	Mohammadreza Mirzaei Peter Kán Hannes Kaufmann
author_facet	Mohammadreza Mirzaei Peter Kán Hannes Kaufmann
author_sort	Mohammadreza Mirzaei
title	Effects of Using Vibrotactile Feedback on Sound Localization by Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing People in Virtual Environments
title_short	Effects of Using Vibrotactile Feedback on Sound Localization by Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing People in Virtual Environments
title_full	Effects of Using Vibrotactile Feedback on Sound Localization by Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing People in Virtual Environments
title_fullStr	Effects of Using Vibrotactile Feedback on Sound Localization by Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing People in Virtual Environments
title_full_unstemmed	Effects of Using Vibrotactile Feedback on Sound Localization by Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing People in Virtual Environments
title_sort	effects of using vibrotactile feedback on sound localization by deaf and hard-of-hearing people in virtual environments
publisher	MDPI AG
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/b89e96ef63d64f74875c6230ffe368f8
work_keys_str_mv	AT mohammadrezamirzaei effectsofusingvibrotactilefeedbackonsoundlocalizationbydeafandhardofhearingpeopleinvirtualenvironments AT peterkan effectsofusingvibrotactilefeedbackonsoundlocalizationbydeafandhardofhearingpeopleinvirtualenvironments AT hanneskaufmann effectsofusingvibrotactilefeedbackonsoundlocalizationbydeafandhardofhearingpeopleinvirtualenvironments
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Effects of Using Vibrotactile Feedback on Sound Localization by Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing People in Virtual Environments

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