An experimental system for auditory image representations

An experimental system for the conversion of images into sound patterns was designed to provide auditory image representations within some of the known limitations of the human hearing systems possibly as a step towards the development of a vision substitution device for the blind. The application of an invertible (one-to-one) image-to-sound mapping ensures the preservation of visual information. The system implementation involves a pipelined special-purpose computer connected to a standard television camera. A novel design and the use of standard components have made for a low-cost portable prototype conversion system with a power dissipation suitable for battery operation. Computerized sampling of the system output and subsequent calculation of the approximate inverse (sound-to-image) mapping provided the first convincing experimental evidence for the preservation of visual information in sound representations of complicated images.