Real-time WebRTC-based design for a telepresence wheelchair

© 2017 IEEE. This paper presents a novel approach to the telepresence wheelchair system which is capable of real-time video communication and remote interaction. The investigation of this emerging technology aims at providing a low-cost and efficient way for assisted-living of people with disabilities. The proposed system has been designed and developed by deploying the JavaScript with Hyper Text Markup Language 5 (HTML5) and Web Real-time Communication (WebRTC) in which the adaptive rate control algorithm for video transmission is invoked. We conducted experiments in real-world environments, and the wheelchair was controlled from a distance using the Internet browser to compare with existing methods. The results show that the adaptively encoded video streaming rate matches the available bandwidth. The video streaming is high-quality with approximately 30 frames per second (fps) and round trip time less than 20 milliseconds (ms). These performance results confirm that the WebRTC approach is a potential method for developing a telepresence wheelchair system

A telepresence wheelchair using cellular network infrastructure in outdoor environments

© 2016 IEEE. Mobile wireless network technology has grown rapidly over the past decade with emerging applications and services. Particularly, the fourth generation (4G) cellular network has acted as a bridge between telecommunication technology and daily life applications. In this paper, we present an investigation into a telepresence wheelchair in outdoor environments employing cellular network infrastructure instead of using local wireless networks in indoor environments. Experiments were carried out to demonstrate remote interaction and control from a long distance and across countries. A large amount of communication data based on real network measurements was collected and analyzed to evaluate the system performance. The experimental results show that a wheelchair system can be controlled remotely in real-time with the acceptable round trip time of less than 400 ms. The results reveal the feasibility of using the 4G network for a telepresence wheelchair in healthcare applications

Clothing-Integrated Human-Technology Interaction

Due to the different disabilities of people and versatile use environments, the current handheld and screen-based digital devices on the market are not suitable for all consumers and all situations. Thus, there is an urgent need for human- technology interaction solutions, where the required input actions to digital devices are simple, easy to establish, and instinctive, allowing the whole society to effortlessly interact with the surrounding technology. In passive ultra-high frequency (UHF) radio frequency identification (RFID) systems, the tag consists only of an antenna and a simple integrated circuit (IC). The tag gets all the needed power from the RFID reader and can be thus seamlessly and in a maintenance-free way integrated into clothing. In this thesis, it is presented that by integrating passive UHF RFID technology into clothing, body movements and gestures can be monitored by monitoring the individual IDs and backscattered signals of the tags. Electro-textiles and embroidery with conductive thread are found to be suitable options when manufacturing and materials for such garments are considered. This thesis establishes several RFID- based interface solutions, multiple types of inputs through RFID platforms, and controlling the surrounding and communicating with RFID-based on/off functions. The developed intelligent clothing is visioned to provide versatile applications for assistive technology, for entertainment, and ambient assistant living, and for comfort and safety in work environments, just to name a few examples