Different uses of Multi-Sensory Feedback

EDUCATION-In education multi-sensory feedback can be used to increase students’ abilities and skills. There are teaching sessions called “Orton-Gillingham” which involves constant interaction between the teacher and the student and the simultaneous use of multiple sensory input channels”. With this interaction and the use of multiple input channels (hearing, sight and touch senses) not only an optimal learning is achieved, but it enhances memory storage. Multi-sensory becomes a greater value when students maybe impaired such as sight, mental or physical impairment. In this case the efforts would be closely monitored and more than one sensory input will be used.

Picture 1



http://www.youtube.com/user/twardURS

MUSIC: Another example of multi-sensory interface can be “reactable” an interface for producing music. Its functionality is based on moving and rotating physical objects in a luminous table which draws different shapes and plays different tones according to the movements of these physical objects. The feedback received by the user is both the light and the music produced by the movements, that is, touch, hearing and sight are used in this interface. In the following video the basics of that user interface, how it works and the feedback it produces can be appreciated.

Picture 2



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MPG-LYoW27E&feature=player_embedded[25 October 2006]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vm_FzLya8y4&feature=related

AIRFORCE: A pilot can improve the way of capturing the attention of unexpected changes without affecting his performance while piloting. If the sight was the only sense to highlight important system status or unexpected changes, the pilot would lose concentration. Instead, if the wide range of sensory modalities available to human beings such as hearing, sight and touch were used, an effective multi-sensory feedback would be provided to the pilots’ attention “without affecting their performance on current tasks” such as sound.

Pecture 3


Figure 3: A training cockpitSource:

http://www.confederationc.on.ca/ace/images/Frasca-B58-Beech-Baron-cockpit.jpg

GAMING: Together with visual and sound effects they are used to create a more realistic game experience. In racing games the wheel reacts differently for each surface and maneuver that user performs. It is the same with joystick and flight simulators – it can simulate bad weather conditions and turbulences.