Sensory Substitution : Perception Dedicated to Action

Paul Bach Y Rita [1] is the precursor of sensory substitutions. He started thirty years ago using visuotactile prostheses with the intent of satisfying blind people. These prostheses, called Tactile Vision Substitution Systems (TVSS), transform a sensory input from a given modality (vision) into another modality (touch). These new systems seemed to induce quasi-visual perceptions. One of the author’s interests dealt with the understanding of the coupling between actions and sensations in perception mechanisms [4]. Throughout his search, he noticed that the subjects had to move the camera themselves in order to recognise a 3D target-object or a figure placed in front of them. Our work consists in understanding how sensory information provided by a visuo-tactile prosthesis can be used for motor behaviour. In this aim, we used the most simple substitution device (one photoreceptor coupled with one tactile stimulator) in order to control and enrich our knowledge of the ties between perception and action.