Mathieu Simonnet - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by Mathieu Simonnet

Journal of Maps, Jan 23, 2012

Nowadays, thanks to the accessibility of GPS, sighted people widely use electronic charts to navi... more Nowadays, thanks to the accessibility of GPS, sighted people widely use electronic charts to navigate through different kinds of environments. In the maritime domain, it has considerably improved the precision of course control. In this domain, blind sailors can not make a compass bearing, however they are able to interact with multimodal electronic charts. Indeed, we conceived SeaTouch, a haptic (tactilekinesthetic) and auditory virtual environment that allows users to perform virtual maritime navigation without vision. In this study we attempt to assess if heading or northing "haptic" views during virtual navigation training influences non-visual spatial knowledge. After simulating a navigation session in each condition, a blind sailor truly navigated on the sea and estimated seamark bearings. We used the triangulation technique to compare the efficiency of northing and heading virtual training. The results are congruent with current knowledge about spatial frames of reference and suggest that getting lost in heading mode forces the blind sailor to coordinate his current "view" with a more global and stable representation.

La consultation des cartes géographiques sur tablette tactile en l'absence de vision pose différe... more La consultation des cartes géographiques sur tablette tactile en l'absence de vision pose différentes questions dont celle des stratégies d'exploration. Il a été identifié une phase d'investigation, qui vise à découvrir les éléments présents sur la carte, et une phase de mémorisation, qui vise à construire une représentation mentale de cet espace géographique. Il s'agit de deux processus cognitifs bien distincts impliquant des activités différentes pour les utilisateurs déficients visuels. Alors que l'investigation nécessite une perception large et rapide, la mémorisation requiert une perception précise contenant des points de référence. Cette étude vise à concevoir et évaluer différents modes d'interaction pour la facilitation de ces deux phases.

In this preliminary study, we compared the capabil-ity of a blind sailor to access geographical i... more In this preliminary study, we compared the capabil-ity of a blind sailor to access geographical information needed to navigate via an haptic device and via a tactile map. We assessed this spatial knowledge in an egocen-tered, an allocentered and a combined frame of refer-ence. The subject first explored haptic or tactile maps before answering a series of questions in order to locate 6 salient objects within each map. Then, we used the triangulation technique to obtain easily scoreable phys-ical representations of these cognitive locations. Basi-cally, our results showed no difference between haptic and tactile condition even if slight differences were ob-served between the frames of reference. We suggest that the subject took great advantage of the haptic map be-cause its sequential and dynamic features implied to fo-cus on learning and memorizing the movement patterns rather than directly touching the global layout with re-duced movements as it is the case when using a tactile map.

Journal of visual impairment & blindness

A map exploration and representation exercise was conducted with totally blind participants. Repr... more A map exploration and representation exercise was conducted with totally blind participants. Representations of maritime environments were presented either with a tactile map or with a digital haptic virtual map. We assessed the knowledge of spatial configurations using a triangulation technique. Results revealed that both types of maps are equivalent. Problem Statement All over the world, blind people practice sailing. However, they do not have access to a non-visual equivalent to maritime geographic information system (GIS) that provide digital charts, updated positioning, and real time weather updates, as commonly used by sighted sailors. This study aims at building upon previous technological and psychological knowledge to assess haptic (tactile-kinesthetic) and auditory virtual maritime maps from SeaTouch, a maritime GIS for blind sailors. Thus, we compared spatial performances obtained after the exploration of regular maritime maps in relief (tactile maps) and novel virtual ma...

International Journal on Disability and Human Development, 2006

This study aims at the conception of haptic and vocal navigation software that permits blind sail... more This study aims at the conception of haptic and vocal navigation software that permits blind sailors to create and simulate ship itineraries. This question implies a problematic about the haptic strategies used by blind people in order to build their space representation when using maps. According to current theories, people without vision are able to construct cognitive maps of their environment but the lack of sight tends to lead them to build egocentric and sequential mental pictures of space. Nevertheless, exocentric and unified representations are more efficient . Can blind people be helped to construct more effective spatial pictures? Some previous works have shown that strategies are the most important factors in spatial performance in large-scale space (Tellevik, 1992) (Hill et al, 1993) (Thinus-Blanc et al, 1997). In order to encode space in an efficient way, we made our subject use the cardinal points reference in small-scale space. During our case study, a compass establishes a frame of external cues. In this respect, we support the assumption that training based on systematic exocentric reference helps blind subjects to build unified space. At the same time, this training has led the blind sailor to change his haptic strategies in order to explore tactile maps and perform better. This seems to modify his processing of space representation. Eventually, we would like to study the transfer between map representation and environment mobility. Our final point is about using strategy based on cardinal points and haptic virtual reality technologies in order to help the blind improve their spatial cognition.

L’Année psychologique, 2013

ABSTRACT Avec l’approfondissement de la notion de carte cognitive spatiale, différents paramètres... more ABSTRACT Avec l’approfondissement de la notion de carte cognitive spatiale, différents paramètres ont été identifiés comme jouant un rôle dans les processus d’encodage de la représentation de l’espace au sein des référentiels de types égo et allocentrés. L’activité du sujet et la nature de la configuration environnementale se révèlent alors être des facteurs déterminants de cet encodage. Bien que les travaux dans ce domaine ne s’accordent pas systématiquement, il semble que les actions du sujet participent à l’intégration de repères centrés sur lui-même alors que les caractéristiques géométriques propres aux configurations tendent à favoriser l’intériorisation de références externes. La coordination de ces encodages de types égo et allocentrés s’impose comme une clé de la réussite des tâches spatiales. Cette note théorique vise à préciser le rôle joué par les mouvements du sujet, sa désorientation, son point de vue initial d’apprentissage, l’axe intrinsèque à la configuration ainsi que la régularité de sa forme dans la coordination des représentations de types égo et allocentrés.

Lecture Notes in Computer Science, 2009

Navigating consists of coordinating egocentric and allocentric spatial frames of reference. Virtu... more Navigating consists of coordinating egocentric and allocentric spatial frames of reference. Virtual environments have afforded researchers in the spatial community with tools to investigate the learning of space. The issue of the transfer between virtual and real situations is not trivial. A central question is the role of frames of reference in mediating spatial knowledge transfer to external surroundings, as is the effect of different sensory modalities accessed in simulated and real worlds. This challenges the capacity of blind people to use virtual reality to explore a scene without graphics. The present experiment involves a haptic and auditory maritime virtual environment. In triangulation tasks, we measure systematic errors and preliminary results show an ability to learn configurational knowledge and to navigate through it without vision. Subjects appeared to take advantage of getting lost in an egocentric "haptic" view in the virtual environment to improve performances in the real environment.

Journal of Maps, 2010

ABSTRACT In this case study, we investigated the influence of two dis-plays in a haptic and audit... more ABSTRACT In this case study, we investigated the influence of two dis-plays in a haptic and auditory navigation tool used on board by a blind sailor. The displays differed in their spatial frames of reference. We assessed the control and representation of his course after having used a force feed-back device as a maritime cane (i.e. egocentric) or as a mean to conven-tionally consult an updated geographic information system (i.e. allocentric). Results tended to show that the egocentric condition was better for precise course control and the al-locentric one more efficient for building an accurate mental representation.

A map exploration and representation exercise was conducted with totally blind participants.

... univ-brest.fr} (2) Department of Geography, University of Calgary, 2500 University Dr. NW, Ca... more ... univ-brest.fr} (2) Department of Geography, University of Calgary, 2500 University Dr. NW, Calgary, Canada T2N 1N4 {dan.jacobson@ucalgary ... Eventually, it seems that lack of vision slows down ontogenic spatial development [] but does not prohibit it (Kitchin and Jacobson ...

In this preliminary study, we compared the capability of a blind sailor to access geographical in... more In this preliminary study, we compared the capability of a blind sailor to access geographical information needed to navigate via an haptic device and via a tactile map. We assessed this spatial knowledge in an egocentered, an allocentered and a combined frame of reference. The subject first explored haptic or tactile maps before answering a series of questions in order to locate 6 salient objects within each map. Then, we used the triangulation technique to obtain easily scoreable physical representations of these cognitive locations. Basically, our results showed no difference between haptic and tactile condition even if slight differences were observed between the frames of reference. We suggest that the subject took great advantage of the haptic map because its sequential and dynamic features implied to focus on learning and memorizing the movement patterns rather than directly touching the global layout with reduced movements as it is the case when using a tactile map.

orion-brest.com

... Perceptions auditives et haptiques, espaces physiques et virtuels, représentation euclidienne... more ... Perceptions auditives et haptiques, espaces physiques et virtuels, représentation euclidienne ; objet sémantique ; sensations intuitives ... l'enfant ne dispose que d'un espace d'action topologique, où ne ... à extraire les arêtes, à partir de leur disposition spatiale, combiner ces géons ...

Advances in Human-Computer Interaction, 2012

Even if their spatial reasoning capabilities remain quite similar to those of sighted people, bli... more Even if their spatial reasoning capabilities remain quite similar to those of sighted people, blind people encounter difficulties in getting distant information from their surroundings. Thus, whole body displacements, tactile map consultations, or auditory solutions are needed to establish physical contacts with their environment. Therefore, the accuracy of nonvisual spatial representations heavily relies upon the efficiency of exploration strategies and the ability to coordinate egocentric and allocentric spatial frames of reference. This study aims to better understand the mechanisms of this coordination without vision by analyzing cartographic exploration strategies and assessing their influence on mental spatial representations. Six blind sailors were immersed within a virtual haptic and auditory maritime environment. They were required to learn the layout of the map. Their movements were recorded and we identified some exploration strategies. Then they had to estimate the directions of six particular seamarks in aligned and misaligned situations. Better accuracy and coordination were obtained when participants used the "central point of reference" strategy. Our discussion relative to the articulation between geometric enduring representations and salient transient perceptions provides implications on map reading techniques and on mobility and orientation programs for blind people.

Advances in Human-Computer Interaction, 2013