Tactile aids to speech reception

Uses of the tactile sense to aid speech reception (usually in conjunction with lipreading) are reviewed. In the noninstrumental approach, the receiver's hands are placed on the talker. In one Instrumental approach, the unprocessed speech waveform or its envelope is transduced by a single vibrator. In those approaches guided by Helmholtzian place theory (“tactile vocoders”), the acoustic spectrum is analyzed into frequency bands and their envelopes are represented in an ordered, usually linear, spatial array on the skin. In the perceptual approach, auditory‐perceptual dimensions relevant to speech are mapped onto tactile‐perceptual dimensions In a manner arbitrarily selected by the experimenter. Observations at Central Institute for the Deaf will illustrate issues pertinent to the development and eventual clinical use of tactile aids. These are: problems of aid evaluation including appropriate training of subjects, criteria for selection of clients, and practial problems associated with daily use (safety, reliability, feedback, noise, and cost). A review of the accomplishments of the last 15 years substantiates that progress has been made toward clinical application. [Supported by NS 03856 and RR 00396.]