Smartphone application for accessible navigation

Διπλωματική εργασία--Πανεπιστήμιο Μακεδονίας, Θεσσαλονίκη, 2018.The main aim of this study is to investigate how the modern smartphone technology can assist people with visual impairments in indoor navigation tasks. We use the free and open indoor navigation service Anyplace, to design an indoor guidance system that is accessible, inexpensive, simple and user-friendly to different user groups disregarding their disabilities. The Android application that Anyplace offers, was extended and modified to serve also the needs of visually impaired users. The presented system works well with the assistive applications that Android platform offers and provides various ways for interaction between the user and the system. The system is communicating with Anyplace server to inform the user about the information of the surrounding environment and guide him/her to the desired place in the building with accessible messages. The application can process, specific pre-defined user commands and location information from existing QR labels in the building. This thesis is focusing on assisting the impaired users on indoor navigation tasks, but not on replacing the assistive means that the visually impaired user is already using. (e.g. long cane, guide dog) Experimental results show the ability of the system to effectively communicate with the user and assist him/her in way-finding tasks in the building of the University of Macedonia

Platform For Interactivity in Concert Rooms Using Targeted Clusters of Mobile Devices

É hoje seguro assumir que uma parte significativa do público presente numa sala de concertos terá consigo um dispositivo móvel capaz de se conectar em rede, de reproduzir som e imagem e de recolher e interpretar dados obtidos por vários tipos de sensores. Estes dispositivos poderão assim ser utilizados para promover a interactividade entre a audiência e os artistas em palco ou como forma de distribuir e espacializar a amplificação sonora pela totalidade do espaço da sala de concertos, entre muitas outras possibilidades. A presente proposta integra-se num projeto que visa desenvolver uma metodologia e framework que permita a interação bidirecional entre o espetador e o espetáculo através do seu dispositivo, seja controlando diferentes aspetos do dispositivo durante o espetáculo (som, luz, cor, vibração, etc.), seja utilizando informação do utilizador e das suas ações (localização na sala, movimento, som produzido, etc.) para intervir no espetáculo em si. Essa interação deve ser possível com um número elevado de espetadores (centenas) Em concreto, pretende-se com esta proposta estudar e implementar o mecanismo de localização do utilizador na sala de espetáculos, e uma plataforma de base consistindo num sistema cliente (aplicação móvel)/servidor para suporte ao tipo de interações referidas. Como mecanismo de localização pretende-se explorar a localização acústica, não sendo no entanto de descartar mecanismos complementares baseados em marcadores visuais ou baseados em triangulação de sinal rádio. A plataforma de suporte para os conteúdos poderá ser baseada na ferramenta PureData, nomeadamente através da biblioteca libPD (http://libpd.cc) disponível para diversas plataformas móveis. No entanto, as ferramentas de criação do conteúdo interativo propriamente dito, bem como questões do foro das comunicações e rede serão desenvolvidas por outros elementos da equipa em processos paralelos mas complementares a este. Os protótipos desenvolvidos deverão ser testados em ambiente de concerto de pequena escala no Auditório da FEUP, em Junho de 2015, na fase final da dissertação, esperando-se que os resultados permitam a sua utilização em maior escala num concerto a realizar em Outubro de 2015, na sala Suggia da Casa da Música (com capacidade para +1200 lugares).Technology is nowadays present in most parts of our lives. There are few places where each of us would dare going without our beloved smartphones or any such device that would allow us to quickly and easily communicate with others, connect to a network, or simply entertain ourselves during dull moments.This dissertation intends to make use of this situation. Given that everyone carries these devices everywhere, we might as well make use of them. The idea is to make all the smartphones useful to create a new show dimension, inside a concert room. To make an application that works both on Android and iPhone devices (the audience's devices) so everyone could literally be a part of the show. An application that would aim to elevate the show itself, that would take it to the stands. By locating people inside the concert room, we could possibly create a whole new spectrum of entertainment is born, without ruining the concert or the show going on, but merely extending it. The application should be able to locate every device connected to a local venue network and from there reproduce different media contents on devices located in different zones. This would allow for a completely different interaction between public and performers

A Wearable Indoor Navigation System for Blind and Visually Impaired Individuals

Indoor positioning and navigation for blind and visually impaired individuals has become an active field of research. The development of a reliable positioning and navigational system will reduce the suffering of the people with visual disabilities, help them live more independently, and promote their employment opportunities. In this work, a coarse-to-fine multi-resolution model is proposed for indoor navigation in hallway environments based on the use of a wearable computer called the eButton. This self-constructed device contains multiple sensors which are used for indoor positioning and localization in three layers of resolution: a global positioning system (GPS) layer for building identification; a Wi-Fi - barometer layer for rough position localization; and a digital camera - motion sensor layer for precise localization. In this multi-resolution model, a new theoretical framework is developed which uses the change of atmospheric pressure to determine the floor number in a multistory building. The digital camera and motion sensors within the eButton acquire both pictorial and motion data as a person with a normal vision walks along a hallway to establish a database. Precise indoor positioning and localization information is provided to the visually impaired individual based on a Kalman filter fusion algorithm and an automatic matching algorithm between the acquired images and those in the pre-established database. Motion calculation is based on the data from motion sensors is used to refine the localization result. Experiments were conducted to evaluate the performance of the algorithms. Our results show that the new device and algorithms can precisely determine the floor level and indoor location along hallways in multistory buildings, providing a powerful and unobtrusive navigational tool for blind and visually impaired individuals

Predictive Indoor Navigation using Commercial Smart-phones

<p>Low-cost navigation solutions for indoor environments have a variety of real-world applications ranging from emergency evacuation to mobility aids for people with disabilities. Challenges for indoor navigation include robust localization in the absence of GPS, intuitive recognition of user navigation goals, and efficient route-planning and replanning techniques. In this paper, we present an architecture for indoor navigation that integrates observed behavior for recognizing user navigation goals and estimating future paths without direct input from the user. Our architecture comprises of three core components: effective localization, map representation and route planning, and plan recognition. The outlined architecture is unique in its integration of the core navigation and prediction components. To evaluate the feasibility of the proposed architecture, we develop a prototype application on a commercial smart-phone. The developed application was tested in an indoor environment and was found to accurately predict intended destination and to provide effective navigation guidance to the user.</p