This is an example of one image from each of the visual categories used in the structured SSD training (geometric shapes, Hebrew letters, textures, body postures, everyday objects, houses, and faces) is demonstrated, along with its corresponding transformation to sound via the vOICe SSD (two repetitions of each 2-s-long soundscape).
(Photo Credit: Striem-Amit et al., Neuron)
After the training program, participants could assign soundscapes to their visual categories and also determine multiple features of the stimulus (such as hairstyle in a face image, number of floors and windows in a house image, and body posture in a body-shape image), enabling them to differentiate between objects within categories. The movie depicts two examples of these abilities: a trained congenitally blind participant in the study as she reads a three-letter word and another participant as she identifies emotional facial expressions perceived through the SSD.
(Photo Credit: Striem-Amit et al., Neuron)
Source: Cell Press