A Chronometric Analysis of the Effect of Sex and Sensory Modality on the Running Performance of Visually Handicapped Individuals

The purpose of this study was to experimentally compare the effect of two sensory aids on the running performance of 40 female and 40 male visually handicapped subjects participating in a 40 yard dash. The subjects ranged in age from 6-21 and attended various schools and institutions in Massachusetts, New Jersey, and New York. The subjects were blocked according to sex and randomly assigned to one of two treatment conditions. Those assigned to treatment one utilized an audible goal locator. Those assigned to treatment two utilized a tactual guide wire. The subjects were tested individually. A timed performance score was recorded for each subject. A 2 x 2 factorial design for the variables of sex and sensory aid was used. The analysis of variance indicated that there was no significant difference in the scores of subjects utilizing an audible goal locator as compared to a tactual guide wire. A significant (p ≤ .001) main effect for sex was found. Visually handicapped males performed significantly faster than females. This finding supported research concerning visually impaired males and females on various physical performance tests. No significant interactive effect was noted for the variables of sex and sensory aid. Mean examination indicated that females performed slightly faster utilizing the audible goal locator while males performed slightly faster using the tactual guide wire. Suggestions were offered in an attempt to further research concerning performances of visually handicapped individuals, in various physical settings and for evaluating the effectiveness of sensory aids

White Paper for Research Beyond 5G

The documents considers both research in the scope of evolutions of the 5G systems (for the period around 2025) and some alternative/longer term views (with later outcomes, or leading to substantial different design choices). This document reflects on four main system areas: fundamental theory and technology, radio and spectrum management; system design; and alternative concepts. The result of this exercise can be broken in two different strands: one focused in the evolution of technologies that are already ongoing development for 5G systems, but that will remain research areas in the future (with “more challenging” requirements and specifications); the other, highlighting technologies that are not really considered for deployment today, or that will be essential for addressing problems that are currently non-existing, but will become apparent when 5G systems begin their widespread deployment

Local Food Innovation in a World of Wicked Problems: The Pitfalls and the Potential

Food-oriented markets, such as food innovation districts (FIDs), have been touted as potential methods to address complex societal issues involving the environment, poverty, and health. On this front the Grand Rapids Downtown Market (DTM) was created in 2013, envisioned as a vibrant public space for local food, entrepreneurship, community health, and jobs. An innovative, collective response to the interconnected and urgent problems of poverty, access, health, diet, and environment, the DTM can serve as a case study through which the value and necessity of a wicked problems framework become apparent. Wicked problems literature demonstrates that collaborative and iterative processes are essential to effective and inclusive transformational change of food systems, while also emphasizing that there can be no final, ideal solution. On the other hand, as an FID intentionally located in a low-income neighborhood, the DTM has been subject to criticism about top-down, expensive, and exclusionary practices aimed at gentrification. In the end, this analysis suggests that while FIDs can address local problems resulting from dominant food systems and practices, they can also function as a gentrifying force. Efforts more directly aimed at bottom-up, participatory engagement are essential to making collectively systemic, equitable changes in current food systems and practices. Emphasizing the need for bridge institutions, we argue that it is essential to value actively a wider array of knowledge cultures

State of the art review on walking support system for visually impaired people

The technology for terrain detection and walking support system for blind people has rapidly been improved the last couple of decades but to assist visually impaired people may have started long ago. Currently, a variety of portable or wearable navigation system is available in the market to help the blind for navigating their way in his local or remote area. The focused category in this work can be subgroups as electronic travel aids (ETAs), electronic orientation aids (EOAs) and position locator devices (PLDs). However, we will focus mainly on electronic travel aids (ETAs). This paper presents a comparative survey among the various portable or wearable walking support systems as well as informative description (a subcategory of ETAs or early stages of ETAs) with its working principal advantages and disadvantages so that the researchers can easily get the current stage of assisting blind technology along with the requirement for optimising the design of walking support system for its users

Humancentric Applications of Precise Location Based Services

Mobile technologies, which allow users to move around while maintaining the ability to access a network and its services, now claim a significant degree of attention in both industry and academia. In this vision, one particular attribute gains critical importance: location. The ability to pinpoint a mobile user’s location creates a new class of applications and services. These location based services (LBS) exploit the known location of a user to provide services dependent on their geographic context and personalised needs. However, as newer positioning technologies are introduced into the market with a greater level of location accuracy, and existing technologies are integrated to overcome limitations, issues pertaining to the use and potential misuse of location information rise to the fore. In addition to this, perhaps because LBS are so new, there has been limited investigation into exactly what effects the widespread use of these technologies may have. This thesis aims to rectify a gap in current knowledge by presenting a plausible scenario that describes how humancentric applications of LBS could change the world of tomorrow, based on the current state of development. It also makes several original contributions in an analysis of legal, ethical, social and technological issues that arise from the scenario

Technology-assisted white cane: evaluation and future directions

Background Several technology-assisted aids are available to help blind and visually impaired people perform their daily activities. The current research uses the state-of-the-art technology to enhance the utility of traditional navigational aids to produce solutions that are more reliable. In this regard, a white cane is no exception, which is supplemented with the existing technologies to design Electronic Travel Aids (ETAs), Electronic Orientation Aids (EOAs), and Position Locator Devices (PLDs). Although several review articles uncover the strengths and limitations of research contributions that extend traditional navigational aids, we find no review article that covers research contributions on a technology-assisted white cane. The authors attempt to fill this literature gap by reviewing the most relevant research articles published during 2010–2017 with the common objective of enhancing the utility of white cane with the existing technology. Methods The authors have collected the relevant literature published during 2010–17 by searching and browsing all the major digital libraries and publishers’ websites. The inclusion/exclusion criteria were applied to select the research articles that are relevant to the topic of this review article, and all other irrelevant papers were excluded. Among the 577 (534 through database searching and 43 through other sources) initially screened papers, the authors collected 228 full-text articles, which after applying exclusion/inclusion criteria resulted in 36 papers that were included in the evaluation, comparison, and discussion. This also includes research articles of commercially available aids published before the specified range. Results The findings show that the research trend is shifting towards developing a technology-assisted white cane solution that is applicable in both indoor and outdoor environments to aid blind users in navigation. In this regard, exploiting smartphones to develop low-cost and user-friendly navigation solution is among the best research opportunities to explore. In addition, the authors contribute a theoretical evaluation framework to compare and evaluate the state-of-the-art solutions, identify research trends and future directions. Discussion Researchers have been in the quest to find out ways of enhancing the utility of white cane using existing technology. However, for a more reliable enhancement, the design should have user-centric characteristics. It should be portable, reliable, trust-worthy, lightweight, less costly, less power hungry, and require minimal training with special emphasis on its ergonomics and social acceptance. Smartphones, which are the ubiquitous and general-purpose portable devices, should be considered to exploit its capabilities in making technology-assisted white cane smarter and reliable