WEARABLE MULTICHANNEL VIBROTACTILE ARRAYS FOR THE DEAF

THE LONG-TERM OBJECTIVE OF THIS STUDY IS TO MAKE AVAILABLE WEARABLE TACTILE AIDS WITH EIGHT OR MORE CHANNELS AND WITH SUITABLE PERFORMANCE, SIZE, AND CONVENIENCE CHARACTERISTICS TO MEET THE REQUIREMENTS OF THE MARKET. THE IMMEDIATE TASK IS TO ASSESS THE POTENTIAL OF A SPECIFIC TYPE OF VIBRATOR ELEMENT FOR USE IN AN INTEGRATED STIMULATOR ARRAY CONSISTINGOF EIGHT OR MORE VIBRATORS. ADDITIONALLY, A ZERO AXIS CROSSING TECHNIQUE WOULD BE EXAMINED FOR APPLICABILITY AS A SPECTRAL ANALYZER IN WEARABLE TACTILE AIDS. FIELD EXPER- IENCE IN THE LAST TWO YEARS WITH A SINGLE CHANNEL AID LEAVESNO DOUBT THAT THE TACTILE MODALITY IS EFFECTIVE FOR HELPING THE PROFOUNDLY DEAF. PARTICULARLY FOR CHILDREN, THE TACTILEMODALITY IS AN EFFECTIVE AND SAFE ALTERNATIVE TO COCHLEAR IMPLANTS. AT THE SAME TIME, COMPARATIVE EVALUATIONS OF SINGLE AND MULTIPLE-CHANNEL AIDS INDICATE THAT MULTICHANNEL AIDS ARE SUPERIOR TO SINGLE CHANNEL AIDS.