Simulation-Based Designing of Suitable Stimulation Factors for Presenting Two Phosphenes Simultaneously to Lower Side of Field of View

Abstract

Using a phosphene has been discussed as a means of informing the visually impaired of the position of an obstacle. Obstacles underfoot have a risk, so it is necessary to inform the visually impaired. A previous study clarified a method of presenting phosphene in three directions in the lower vision; however, the simultaneous presentation of these phosphenes has not been discussed. Another study discussing the effect of electrical interference when stimulating the eyeball with multiple electrodes indicated that it is important to select appropriate stimulation factors to avoid this effect. However, when the stimulation electrodes are arranged remarkably close, there is a high possibility that the stimulus factor presented in the previous study will not apply. In this study, a method for simultaneously presenting phosphenes in the lower vision is presented. The electrode arrangements reported in the previous study to present phosphene in the lower field of vision are used, and the difficulty in the simultaneous presentation of multiple phosphenes in the lower vision is the focus. In this paper, the method of designing the stimulation factors is discussed numerically when the electrodes are arranged remarkably close. As a result, it is shown that stimulation factors different from the previous research were appropriate depending on the distance between the electrodes.

Keywords

• visually impaired people
• phosphene
• walking support
• ocular surface
• lower field of view
• FEM