I was traveling from Raipur to Bihlai and found the highway to be surprisingly green. Like most Indian roads, there were plenty of other things to look at. See some memorable snapshots.
The road from Raipur to Bihlai
Sensory substitution
It is not your vision stupid: updated thoughts on shape recognition
I’ve often bemoaned the fact that I’m not sufficiently experienced with vision to facilitate shape recognition. Over the past year or so, I have had access to a tiger embosser from View Plus Technologies which has allowed me to print images and feel them. Surprise, surprise! I was unable to identify what those images were without context. The same is the case when I look at images using the vOICe. The vOICe renders images in two dimensions just like what the tiger does. The resolution using the vOICe is higher and since I’m wearing a head mounted setup, I can use the vOICe to explore my environment immersively. There seem to be two conditions that facilitate shape and scene recognition. The first is historical experience so, if I have experienced a shape before, I’m able to identify what it is when I look at it again. Secondly, the scene has to match my mental map that I have built either using my kinesthetic awareness or some other means. This condition I experienced this condition firsthand when I was looking at a doorway using the fisheye lens with the video glasses. I was uncomfortable when I had the narrow angle view of the doorway. However, the moment I got the fisheye lens on the glasses, I was able to perceive both sides of the doorway which I knew would be there.
I am not too sure what this means for sensory substitution and learning how to use it effectively. In all probability, what this means is that experience and mental maps need to be stressed. The modality of information delivery is not as relevant as I thought it to be.
the Taj Mahal a not so wonderful wonder
On 18 December 2011, I paid a visit to the Taj Mahal in Agra. I was with my cousins and we had spent a pleasant 5 hours driving from Delhi to Agra. The first shock was the snaking security line. Good on them as far as the crowd control goes but why could they not have more ticket counters? Who were they protecting against? What were they protecting?
I was wearing the vOICe so I had my video glasses and netbook. I eventually reached the security check barrier. This was like a doorway. I was frisked and then asked to take off my backpack.
I could not do this since I was all wired up. I was lead to a table where an inspector of police heard my story. I explained the vOICe as an artificial eye.
We were then directed to an officer of the Archeological Survey of India. I had to wait near the security desk while my cousin went to meet with the official.
No argument worked. I had to remove the vOICe and leave it in the tender care of the security staff. The reasoning of the ASI officer was that there was an order by the Supreme Court forbidding laptops. There was no countering that but I am puzzled that the learned judges would allow mobile phones and not laptops? A mobile phone is a computer and can do much more than a laptop.
I did get some photographs with the camera and did use the mobile phone version of the vOICe for a bit but as of this writing, there is nothing that can give me the eye level perspective and the broad field of view like the video glasses with the fish-eye lens.
The high point of my visit came in the souvenir shop outside the Taj Mahal. The staff was welcoming and were happy to show me their tools and products. There is much use of colors so keep a color detector handy or use the color spectrum feature of the vOICe. The staff is very good about adjusting the lighting conditions in the shop to best show off things like stones that are supposed to glow at the time of the full moon. I was able to detect the bright point of light which were the glowing stones under a flashlight.
Tips for any visitors specially those wearing electronic aides.
1. Leave the aide at home or in the vehicle unless it resembles a mobile phone.
2. Do not visit on the weekend since it is very crowded.
3. Keep at least 3 hours for the entire exercise.
4. Hire a guide. Ours was invaluable since besides telling us interesting stories, he was able to minimize the time we spent in the visitor’s line. He knew the shortest routes to get from one point to another. Mind you, you do not have much scope for getting lost since given the crowd, you are almost boxed in.
5. Eat before entering the Taj Mahal since food is not permitted inside the complex.
A K-Sonar experience and thoughts about it and the vOICe
I had a chance to play with the K-Sonar at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT). I spent about 15 minutes with the device. I like the mode where it sounds like a machine gun that is, I get rapid clicks. I was able to move around and the looming effect when I was going to collide with an obstacle is superb.
I naturally began to compare it with the vOICe. Yes, I am comparing apples and oranges since sensory substitution is different from sonar but I took the perspective of both being used for navigation. I found the vOICe to be significantly richer in giving me information about what is around me. Obstacle detection though is something you have to get used too. There is no looming effect and the shape of the obstacle just fills the view. I wish the vOICe could have the looming feature since I would get the best of both worlds. It is nice to know that I am going to collide with something but when using sonar, I don’t know what that thing is.
Other than that my familiarity with soundscapes came in handy since I was able to use the K-Sonar without any training. The researchers were amazed. Other users had not liked the device at all and found it useless.
The form factor is nice in terms of size but it is a bit fat for my palm. I wish the attachment to slide it on to the cane was detachable.
The Skogafoss waterfall complete with a rainbow
This is an image of the Skogafoss waterfall. Note the arc-shaped rainbow. Users of the vOICe should use the color filter to explore the rainbow. I spent 10 minutes here but they were some of the most fulfilling of the trip since I was able to see the rainbow using the vOICe.
Thanks to Pedro Alvarez and Helen Cherry for photography tips, image classification and editing.
The VIK beach
Some photographs of the Vik beach in Iceland. See the mountains in image 1 and you get a strong sense of space in image 2.
Those of you who can perceive color will enjoy the blue sky in image 1.
Thanks to Pedro Alvarez and Helen Cherry for photography tips, image classification and editing.
Whale watching with artificial vision
See the attached cloudscape. The sea and sky predominate the image with a sliver of land in the middle. I was using the vOICe in hopes of being able to see a whale. No luck. Either the camera did not pick up the whale since it swum mostly under water or I was not looking in the right direction. Another possibility is that there was too much sky in the image so I would need to narrow the view by using the blinders option from the command line.
For anyone trying any synthetic vision device while whale watching, whales mostly appear as blobs in the sea. You may have a better chance of seeing dolphins but that is still very difficult. I had the vOICe at 2-fold speed and no luck. I did try 4-fold speed but I lost too much detail so reduced speed.
However, I was not disappointed. Looking at the sea from a moving boat is a fascinating exercise especially when you can see the arc like ripples the boat makes. The sea and clouds also provide much visual information. Another diverting exercise is to try and see landmarks like small islands as you cruise past them.
My compliments to Captain Gunnar of the Andrea for the wonderful tour of his bridge and engine room and for answering all my questions. May your Volvo Penta TMD engines always run trouble free and roar like they did during our trip!
Thanks to Pedro Alvarez and Helen Cherry for photography tips, image classification and editing.
