Realidade aumentada móvel aplicada na navegação indoor para cadeirantes

Physical deficiency is an obstacle to the afflicted individual, as they are deprived from realizing routine activities, without the help of others. For many, the use of wheelchairs is fundamental to providing mobility and social inclusion. However, these individuals still come up against a series of challenges in order to improve their life quality. Among the many difficulties, one in particular is highlighted: navigation in indoor environments buildings, such as localizing the shortest and best route for arriving at a desired destination. In the context of the Information Society, the use of pervasive computation and intelligent environments have application potential in supporting navigation assisted by mobile devices. In this scenario, it is noted that there exist a sparse quantity of applications capable of attending to the special needs of wheelchair users. Therefore, this study considers the hypothesis that other technologies, such as Mobile Augmented Reality (AR), possess the potential to facilitate the navigation of wheelchair users in indoor environments. In light of the above, the main motive behind this research study is to investigate computational techniques that support the use of indoor navigation based on Mobile AR, especially those which possess total control over their upper limbs. In order to achieve such, this work study proposes an architecture to support the development of these applications. Experiments were performed with wheelchair user volunteers. These interacted with an application via touch or voice commands in order to navigate within a test environment. This environment proposes the use of navigation arrows through use of AR. The features implemented onto the proposed architecture were capable of providing significant benefits for indoor navigation. Especially, when compared to traditional techniques.Tese (Doutorado)A deficiência física é um obstáculo aos portadores, uma vez que os mesmos são privados de realizar atividades rotineiras, sem auxílio de outros. Para muitos, o uso de cadeiras de rodas é fundamental para proporcionar mobilidade e inclusão social. No entanto, cadeirantes ainda enfrentam uma série de desafios para melhorar sua qualidade de vida. Entre as muitas dificuldades, uma em especial se destaca: a navegação em ambientes internos (indoor) de edificações, tais como a localização do menor e melhor caminho para chegar ao seu destino final. No contexto da Sociedade da Informação, o uso de computação pervasiva e de ambientes inteligentes tem potencial de aplicação no apoio à navegação suportada por dispositivos móveis. Neste cenário, observa-se parca quantidade de aplicações capazes de atender as necessidades especiais de cadeirantes. Portanto, este trabalho considera a hipótese de que outras tecnologias como a Realidade Aumentada (RA) Móvel, possui potencial para facilitar a navegação de cadeirantes em ambientes fechados. Diante disso, a motivação principal desta pesquisa é investigar técnicas computacionais que suportem o uso da navegação indoor de cadeirantes, baseada na RA Móvel, especialmente os que possuem total controle dos membros superiores. Para tanto, este trabalho propõe uma arquitetura para suportar o desenvolvimento destas aplicações. Experimentos foram realizados com voluntários cadeirantes. Estes interagiram com a aplicação por meio de comandos de toque ou de voz, para navegar dentro de um ambiente de teste. Este ambiente propõe o uso de setas de navegação com o uso de RA. As características implementadas na arquitetura proposta foram capazes de proporcionar benefícios significativos para navegação indoor de cadeirantes. Principalmente, quando comparado com técnicas tradicionais. Palavras-chave: realidade aumentada móvel, navegação indoor, cadeirantes

Multimodal feedback for finger-based interaction in mobile augmented reality

Mobile or handheld augmented reality uses a smartphone's live video stream and enriches it with superimposed graphics. In such scenarios, tracking one's fingers in front of the camera and interpreting these traces as gestures offers interesting perspectives for interaction. Yet, the lack of haptic feedback provides challenges that need to be overcome. We present a pilot study where three types of feedback (audio, visual, haptic) and combinations thereof are used to support basic finger-based gestures (grab, release). A comparative study with 26 subjects shows an advantage in providing combined, multimodal feedback. In addition, it suggests high potential of haptic feedback via phone vibration, which is surprising given the fact that it is held with the other, non-interacting hand

Multimodal feedback for finger-based interaction in mobile augmented reality

Mobile or handheld augmented reality uses a smartphone's live video stream and enriches it with superimposed graphics. In such scenarios, tracking one's fingers in front of the camera and interpreting these traces as gestures offers interesting perspectives for interaction. Yet, the lack of haptic feedback provides challenges that need to be overcome. We present a pilot study where three types of feedback (audio, visual, haptic) and combinations thereof are used to support basic finger-based gestures (grab, release). A comparative study with 26 subjects shows an advantage in providing combined, multimodal feedback. In addition, it suggests high potential of haptic feedback via phone vibration, which is surprising given the fact that it is held with the other, non-interacting hand