Experimental Evaluation of a Braille-Reading-Inspired Finger Motion Adaptive Algorithm

Braille reading is a complex process involving intricate finger-motion patterns and finger-rubbing actions across Braille letters for the stimulation of appropriate nerves. Although Braille reading is performed by smoothly moving the finger from left-to-right, research shows that even fluent reading requires right-to-left movements of the finger, known as “reversal”. Reversals are crucial as they not only enhance stimulation of nerves for correctly reading the letters, but they also show one to re-read the letters that were missed in the first pass. Moreover, it is known that reversals can be performed as often as in every sentence and can start at any location in a sentence. Here, we report experimental results on the feasibility of an algorithm that can render a machine to automatically adapt to reversal gestures of one’s finger. Through Braille-reading-analogous tasks, the algorithm is tested with thirty sighted subjects that volunteered in the study. We find that the finger motion adaptive algorithm (FMAA) is useful in achieving cooperation between human finger and the machine. In the presence of FMAA, subjects’ performance metrics associated with the tasks have significantly improved as supported by statistical analysis. In light of these encouraging results, preliminary experiments are carried out with five blind subjects with the aim to put the algorithm to test. Results obtained from carefully designed experiments showed that subjects’ Braille reading accuracy in the presence of FMAA was more favorable then when FMAA was turned off. Utilization of FMAA in future generation Braille reading devices thus holds strong promise.盲文阅读是一项复杂的过程，涉及精细的手指运动模式与跨盲文字母的指尖摩挲动作，以精准刺激对应神经。尽管盲文阅读通常以从左至右的平滑轨迹移动手指完成，但研究表明，即便熟练阅读也需要手指进行从右至左的移动，这类动作被称为“反转（reversal）”。反转具有多重关键作用：不仅可强化神经刺激以实现字母的准确识别，还能帮助使用者重读首次阅读时遗漏的字符。此外，反转可在每句话中频繁出现，且可始于句子中的任意位置。本文报道了一种算法的可行性实验结果，该算法可使机器自动适配使用者手指的反转手势。通过模拟盲文阅读的任务，该算法在30名自愿参与研究的视力正常受试者中进行了测试。我们发现，手指运动自适应算法（Finger Motion Adaptive Algorithm）有助于实现人类手指与机器的协同交互。在该算法的加持下，受试者在任务中的各项性能指标均得到了显著提升，这一结论得到了统计学分析的支持。鉴于这些令人鼓舞的结果，我们针对5名失明受试者开展了初步实验，以测试该算法的实际效果。经精心设计的实验结果显示，当启用FMAA时，受试者的盲文阅读准确率显著优于关闭FMAA的场景。因此，将FMAA应用于下一代盲文阅读设备，具备广阔的应用前景。