Hi all, I am totally congenitally blind and not a developer, just a person with an idea. I, like some other blind people I know have a very limitted spatial sense. I can't create any sort of map or extract meaning from traffic patterns, despite a lot of mobility training. I basically find the cane useless other than for rudimentary obstacle detection because I can't organize the information into a coherent whole.
For a few years now I've had a theory that these spatial challenges are linked to issues with sensory integration, and that our vestibular sense (our sense of balance) can help with sensory integration because it naturally has those functions (integrating info from vision, sound, touch, proprioception, etc). I had the opportunity to informally try out galvanic vestibular stimulation, which sends electrical stimulation to the inner ear. It made me feel like I was tilting slightly and gave me some eye movement control, which might not seem like something that matters if you're a person with no vision, except that eye movements can help segment and organize attention. The GVS was able to help me organize tiny bits of information gained from passive echolocation and limitted light perception into a 3d model of space. It felt like my eyes were arms and hands, and that i could explore my surroundings while physically staying completely still. There is something called noisy GVS which wouldn't produce the tilting sensations but I'm guessing it would still create the positive effects (though I'd have to test this).
while this probably doesn't seem very useful to those of you who can make use of existing sensory cues naturally, it's a game changer for people like me who can't.
If any of what I've written here resonates, and especially if you are an engineer/have an interest in wearables, I'd love to hear from you. The tech for making GVS useful to us exists--the biggest barrier is articulating how it can help and who will benefit so that someone with more technical knowledge than me can make this happen.
Comments
I can confirm, Re: Eye movement
For what it's worth, I want to point out that what the OP says about eye movement is absolutely accurate. As someone who has full functionality of the motor controls of his eyes, I can tell you that I am constantly pointing my eyes at things too maintain focus on them. For example, when I use my iPhone, I am constantly looking down at the screen. I tend to wear sunglasses all the time, primarily due to light sensitivity, also known as photophobia. However, I also do it around people because I have been accused several times of not being blind, because people can see my eyes moving.
I will focus my eyes on a restaurant menu.
I'll focus my eyes on the TV screen while watching a movie.
I'll focus my eyes on my laptop screen, while using set laptop.
If I'm digging for something out of my wallet, I will focus my eyes on that as well.
Note that I am 100% blind, so I don't actually see a damn thing.
Still, eye focus is a thing.
Thank you, that is all. 🙇
Yes
Everything you have posted makes complete sense. And as Brian says, eye movement also does things. For me it can change my focus of auditory attention. I was formerly sighted. Very much aware of how my brain can change my world and sense of self with proprioception and peripersonal space... even phantom sensations. These predate my blindness, so not just for blind people.
This is exciting. Thank you for posting about it, Tasha.
Re: I can confirm, Re: Eye movement
Glad to hear you can relate. Do you get any sort of info (tactile, proprioceptive, etc) from the eye focusing? I don't have eye motor control normally but when I do, I can sometimes tell something about the surface properties. Even if it's coming from sound, the info doesn't seem to come through very strongly unless it's routed through the eye movement pathway. It's as if the neuroplasticity that's meant to happen when you're an early blind person partially failed in my case (maybe because autism)?
Okay, Eye focus thing makes sense
I do that allot, even though I can't sea anything, be it my phone screen, TV, car window, whatever.
What I don't understand is how a tilting motion created through GVS helps you creat a 3D map in your mind. I mean, you are sitting still, while your ears and mind are simply being tricked and telling you that you are tilted or swinging or whatever.
I was not aware of GVS before reading this, but sounds like a fun thing. Experiencing motion while sitting still, I am thinking of stationary roller coasters and other fun rides someone can make out of it. VR goggles might also benefit from this.
Re: Okay, Eye focus thing makes sense
There is something called the vestibulo-ocular reflex that is designed to keep an image stable on the retina, regardless of head tilt. if your head tilts one way, your eyes automatically move in the opposite direction to compensate. if you have motor control of your eyes, and are seeing normally, you can filter out the conscious experience of the feedback from the vor because it's redundant. if you're someone like me with no vision and no eye movement control, the vor is a very useful cue because it orients where the eyes are pointing in relation to the body, which then focuses attention to that point in space and gives access to contextual information about the object that might be producing the sensations. for example, let's say my eyes keep moving upward but i have no awareness of this. the gvs will create a sort of counter to the upward movements, so i'll notice the upward motion more. after enough times of asking someone in my surroundings (or even potentially an ai agent) about what's in my surroundings, i might eventually learn that the swift upward motion means that there could be a tall object nearby. of course, something like the meta glasses can give me the same information, but what's different about what i'm proposing is that eye movements and our vestibular system are connected with emotional centers of the brain. my experience is much richer when i have a direct perception of something rather than just being told about it. This is what they were trying to do with the Brain Port that created tactile sensations on the tongue or back, but GVS is a bit more practical and I think has a higher likelyhood of being easier to learn because the emotional connection is hard wired.
Re: I can confirm, Re: Eye movement
Hi,
So, I find that if I don't point my eyes at the thing I'm trying to focus on, I lose focus entirely. Unless it's music, a book, or a podcast. I'm able to listen to those while doing other things. Chores around the house comes to mind here.
Otherwise, I find that, for example, if I'm trying to text somebody and my eyes are not focused on my iPhone screen, the very screen that I cannot see for the life of me, my texting will be bad, even if I'm dictating rather than typing something out. Same with my laptop, if I'm not focusing on the screen while I'm typing, I will make a ton of errors. Basically, directing my eyes toward the thing I'm working on, helps keep me focused on that thing.
I should mention that I am coming from a life of being fully sighted, until 2009. I have only been blind for the better part of two decades now, so that may have something to do with my quirks. 😇
Re: I can confirm, Re: Eye movement
I wonder how much of this depends on whether a person has had vision in the past. Although I am totally blind now, I did have limited vision most of my life until it gradually faded to nothing a bit over 20 years ago.
I find myself constantly "looking" at my computer screen and other devices. Sometimes I'll stare at something so long that my eyes will dry out and become scratchy!
for other people though, I've heard other folks on the AppleVis forum having trouble with Face recognition, presumably because they don't know exactly where to look or don't automatically "look" at the screen when trying to unlock their phones.
so I'm guessing these experiences you described so well may differ for people with different experiences.
they do say that the visual part of the brain does respond for blind people as the plasticity of the brain readjusts for blind people so that it gets used for some processing.
How the brain reacts is very interesting.
--Pete