Clinical Trial: Virtual Reality Mobility Training System for Veterans With Vision Loss
Study Status: Completed
Recruit Status: Completed
Study Type: Interventional
Official Title: Virtual Reality Mobility Training System for Veterans With Vision Loss
Brief Summary: This is a two-year proof-of-concept study to evaluate a new Virtual Reality (VR) "holographic" sound system for use as an audiological Orientation and Mobility (O&M) training tool
Detailed Summary:
This is a two-year proof-of-concept study to evaluate a new Virtual Reality (VR) "holographic" sound system for use as an audiological Orientation and Mobility (O&M) training tool. This new system avoids the limitations of other technologies (i.e., binaural recordings and existing VR sound systems) that have been employed with limited success for audiological training. Four advancements in the state-of-the-art represented by this new holographic system provide new promise for audiological O&M training. First, unlike binaural systems, the new system allows the person to move their head in a natural fashion to localize sounds. Second, a spherical microphone array is used to record sound environments so as to retain the direction from which each ambient sound originated. When these recorded sound environments are later presented through head-tracking headphones in a VR environment, real-time software maintains the directionality of the sound so that it remains true no matter how the person moves or turns their head. Third, this new system models the actual physical acoustic structure of each person's head and ears to present sounds as they would be heard by that particular person in the recorded setting. Fourth, this system uses software algorithms to isolate specific sounds (i.e., of a moving vehicle) so that during virtual playback, these sounds can be inserted into the virtual sound field at will and in a customizable fashion to create truly unique and flexible virtual sound presentations.
There are two study hypotheses. First, when using sounds to negotiate traffic intersections, skills employed by experienced travelers in real environments will readily transfer to the proposed VR environment to the extent that audiological tasks performed in real environments are just as easily performed in the VR environment. Second, when the VR environment is enhance
Sponsor: VA Office of Research and Development
Current Primary Outcome: Accuracy in Judging Direction of Traffic at Traffic Intersection [ Time Frame: 4 trials over 30 minutes after 30 minutes of training ]
Standing at an intersection subject indicates when traffic is moving left to right and right to left in front of him, versus traffic moving to and away on the street parallel to his path. Subject can respond in only two ways: 1) traffic is moving on the street in front of me, or 2) traffic is moving on the street beside me.
Each trial lasts 5 minutes with a 2 minute and 30 second break between trials. Traffic stops and starts 5 times over the 5 minutes, each time moving in one of two randomly selected directions: 1) left and right in front of the subject, or 2) forward and back along the street beside the subject.
The participant must correctly state the direction of traffic at least 4 out of five times for the equipment under test to be counted as efficacious for presenting accurate 3D sound information to the participant.
Original Primary Outcome: Times to perform street crossings, accuracy of crossings
Current Secondary Outcome: Accuracy in Selecting Appropriate Time to Cross Street [ Time Frame: 4 trials over 30 minutes after 30 minutes of training ]
Subject is able to state when it is safe to cross the street based on traffic on the street beside him accelerating into motion after traffic on the street in front of him coming to a stop. Subject must state is it safe to cross within 5 seconds of the cars on the street beside him accelerating into motion.
The system under test will be considered efficacious if the subject is correct at least 4 out of 5 times. This counts as being efficacious for that one subject.
Original Secondary Outcome: Identification of flow of traffic, identification of intersection attributes
Information By: VA Office of Research and Development
Dates:
Date Received: June 2, 2006
Date Started: March 2009
Date Completion:
Last Updated: November 20, 2013
Last Verified: November 2013
