Pedestrian Detection with Wearable Cameras for the Blind: A Two-way Perspective

Blind people have limited access to information about their surroundings, which is important for ensuring one's safety, managing social interactions, and identifying approaching pedestrians. With advances in computer vision, wearable cameras can provide equitable access to such information. However, the always-on nature of these assistive technologies poses privacy concerns for parties that may get recorded. We explore this tension from both perspectives, those of sighted passersby and blind users, taking into account camera visibility, in-person versus remote experience, and extracted visual information. We conduct two studies: an online survey with MTurkers (N=206) and an in-person experience study between pairs of blind (N=10) and sighted (N=40) participants, where blind participants wear a working prototype for pedestrian detection and pass by sighted participants. Our results suggest that both of the perspectives of users and bystanders and the several factors mentioned above need to be carefully considered to mitigate potential social tensions.Comment: The 2020 ACM CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI 2020

Include 2011 : The role of inclusive design in making social innovation happen.

Include is the biennial conference held at the RCA and hosted by the Helen Hamlyn Centre for Design. The event is directed by Jo-Anne Bichard and attracts an international delegation

A review of the current trends and future directions of camera barcode reading

Modern mobile phones or smartphones have become a pervasive and affordable device for users at different levels of age around the world. Smartphones equipped with many useful sensors, including camera, barometer, accelerometer, and digital compass. The sensors on smartphones attracted researchers and developers to develop mobile applications (apps) and study the potential use of the sensors to support daily life activities. Unlike other types of sensor, the smartphone camera has been underutilized. Analysis of the literature suggested that smartphone camera mainly serves for personal and social photography. Practically, a smartphone camera can be used as an imaging device for reading a barcode. Although barcode has been used for identifying products and items, the use of a smartphone camera as a reading device has not been explored thoroughly. Further, scholarly resources describing the fundamental knowledge of smartphone camera barcode reading is not available in the literature which could be the reason contributed to slow research progress of the domain. Therefore, this study aims to review the current trends and future directions of smartphone camera for barcode reading. Specifically, the study reviews the literature on the types of applications that are currently available and run on the standard mobile platform for reading a barcode. It also analyzes the necessary components that made up barcode reading apps. Further, the review identifies technical and non-technical issues that are critical for the development of the apps. The contributions of this work are twofold, first, it provides the fundamental knowledge on the building blocks of camera barcode reading apps, and second, it explores the issues in the current camera barcode reading apps that could encourage exploration towards addressing the issues. Practically, the findings could spark new research ideas to address the current issues related to the use of smartphone camera for barcode reading in the near future

Extending Public Accessibility to the Mind: Designing Airports for People with Aphasia

Imagine traveling in an airport in another country. The language is entirely foreign, and all signs are written in text you cannot understand. You have ten minutes to make your connection. How do you find your gate? How do you ask questions? This hypothetical generation of panic is the reality for many travelers every day who suffer from aphasia. Aphasia is a language disorder often caused by stroke or other brain injury that makes it difficult to communicate, read, and process numbers, especially in stressful environments like an airport. More than two million people in America suffer from aphasia and have not been effectively served in the public sphere. Since 1990, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) has sought to “promote equal opportunity, full participation, independent living, and economic self-sufficiency for Americans with disabilities.” Though America has seen great strides in helping public spaces become more accessible to the physically handicapped, fewer attempts have been made to help those suffering from mental handicaps. This research will help to address one of the many subgroups that struggle to mentally navigate public spaces. Through secondary research, case studies, and visual analysis, this research will explore practical methods and solutions that enable people with aphasia to navigate and utilize airports independently and confidently. The solution to this issue will require a layered approach of reimagining signage and navigation tools for airports and creating training tools for airport employees to better understand and serve aphasia patients when they travel. Equipping aphasic travelers with the necessary tools and support will empower them to fly with confidence and independence. This collection of research and tools could expand to impact other people with language disorders navigating high-traffic public spaces like hospitals, schools, subways, and bus stations

A Mobile Cyber-Physical System Framework for Aiding People with Visual Impairment

It is a challenging problem for researchers and engineers in the assistive technology (AT) community to provide suitable solutions for visually impaired people (VIPs) through AT to meet orientation, navigation and mobility (ONM) needs. Given the spectrum of assistive technologies currently available for the purposes of aiding VIPs with ONM, our literature review and survey have shown that there is a reluctance to adopt these technological solutions in the VIP community. Motivated by these findings, we think it critical to re-examine and rethink the approaches that have been taken. It is our belief that we need to take a different and innovative approach to solving this problem. We propose an integrated mobile cyber-physical system framework (MCPSF) with an \u27agent\u27 and a \u27smart environment\u27 to address VIP\u27s ONM needs in urban settings. For example, one of the essential needs for VIPs is to make street navigation easier and safer for them as pedestrians. In a busy city neighborhood, crossing a street is problematic for VIPs: knowing if it is safe; knowing when to cross; and being sure to remain on path and not collide or interfere with objects and people. These remain issues keeping VIPs from a truly independent lifestyle. In this dissertation, we propose a framework based on mobile cyber-physical systems (MCPS) to address VIP\u27s ONM needs. The concept of mobile cyber-physical systems is intended to bridge the physical space we live in with a cyberspace filled with unique information coming from IoT devices (Internet of Things) which are part of Smart City infrastructure. The devices in the IoT may be embedded in different kinds of physical structures. People with vision loss or other special needs may have difficulties in comprehending or perceiving signals directly in the physical space, but they can make such connections in cyberspace. These cyber connections and real-time information exchanges will enable and enhance their interactions in the physical space and help them better navigate through city streets and street crossings. As part of the dissertation work, we designed and implemented a proof of concept prototype with essential functions to aid VIP’s for their ONM needs. We believe our research and prototype experience opened a new approach to further research areas that might enhance ONM functions beyond our prototype with potential commercial product development

Visual Impairment and Blindness

Blindness and vision impairment affect at least 2.2 billion people worldwide with most individuals having a preventable vision impairment. The majority of people with vision impairment are older than 50 years, however, vision loss can affect people of all ages. Reduced eyesight can have major and long-lasting effects on all aspects of life, including daily personal activities, interacting with the community, school and work opportunities, and the ability to access public services. This book provides an overview of the effects of blindness and visual impairment in the context of the most common causes of blindness in older adults as well as children, including retinal disorders, cataracts, glaucoma, and macular or corneal degeneration