Visual Assistance Software for the Visually Impaired

The proposed project involves the creation of a visual assistance software for the visually impaired to identify people in their surroundings to avoid potential collisions. Object detection technique using TensorFlow Lite Object Detection API is performed to identify the people in the view of a visually impaired person. Vibrations of different lengths were used to notify the visually impaired about the location of the person in the view. The software is tested in various conditions to verify its working. Presented in absentia on April 27, 2020 at "Student Research Day" at MacEwan University in Edmonton, Alberta. (Conference cancelled) Faculty Mentor: Jeffrey Davis Department: Computer Science &nbsp

IOT Bracelets for Guiding Blind People in an Indoor Environment

Every day, we engage in a variety of activities such as shopping, reading, swimming, and so on. Many people in our community, however, are unable to participate in such activities, due to a variety of eye problems. Directing a blind person to the optimal position (the center of a spot where there is enough space in all directions such that a blind person avoids various obstacles) is a challenge. This paper proposes wireless bracelets that are able to guide a blind person to the optimal position. The proposed system employs ultrasonic sensors in order to detect various obstacles in an indoor environment. It also makes use of the Firebase database and NodeMCU WiFi module to enable real-time communication with a blind individual. Furthermore, the suggested system includes a novel fall-detection mechanism. The proposed Internet of Things (IoT) system is evaluated in an indoor environment. Experiment results showed that the proposed system could efficiently direct a blind person to the optimal position. In comparison to the current state of the art, the proposed system is simpler, less expensive, and more efficient in determining the optimal position to which a blind person must navigate

SLAM for Visually Impaired People: A Survey

In recent decades, several assistive technologies for visually impaired and blind (VIB) people have been developed to improve their ability to navigate independently and safely. At the same time, simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) techniques have become sufficiently robust and efficient to be adopted in the development of assistive technologies. In this paper, we first report the results of an anonymous survey conducted with VIB people to understand their experience and needs; we focus on digital assistive technologies that help them with indoor and outdoor navigation. Then, we present a literature review of assistive technologies based on SLAM. We discuss proposed approaches and indicate their pros and cons. We conclude by presenting future opportunities and challenges in this domain.Comment: 26 pages, 5 tables, 3 figure

BlueEyes: using beacon and smart phone for visually impaired / blind people

There are currently few options for navigational aids for the blind and visually impaired (BVI) in large indoor and outdoor spaces. Such indoor and outdoor spaces can be difficult to navigate even for the general sighted population if they are disoriented due to unfamiliarity or other reasons. This paper presents an indoor wayfinding system called GuideBeacon for the blind, visually impaired, and disoriented (BVID) that assists people in navigating between any two points within indoor environments. The GuideBeacon system allows users equipped with smartphones to interact with low cost Bluetooth-based beacons deployed strategically within the indoor space of interest to navigate their surroundings. This paper describes the technical challenges faced in designing such a system, the design decisions made in building the current version of the GuideBeacon system, the solutions developed to meet the technical challenges, and results from the evaluation of the system. Results presented in this paper obtained from field testing GuideBeacon with BVI and sighted participants suggests that it can be used by the BVID for navigation in large indoor spaces independently and effectively. This paper presents novel structure for visually impaired/blind people using beacon and smart phone. The proposed structure is consisted of three parts. In the first part esp8266 module due to ultra-low power consumption, in the second part configurator application to configure these beacon and last part is mobile application to detect these beacons. The aim is to help visually impaired/blind people to knowledge the environment in which they live by. Three tests applied in real environment. The results show good performance for the suggested scheme help the visually impaired/blind people reach the desired devices location successfully without error. In conclusion, beacon and smart phone were a valid and reliable method to help the visually impaired/blind people to know the location of devices that are nearest from him in indoor and outdoor environment

Glasses for the blind using ping ultrasonic, ATMEGA8535 and ISD25120

For doing their activities, blind people need tools. The idea for designing this device is for helping the blind person. This device is a glasses specially for blind person which gives information in the form of voices through an earphone if there is an obstacle in the range of 0–58 cm. The device is using PING ultrasonic sensor, ATMEGA8535 microcontroller, and ISD25120 for recording and saving the voices. After designing and making the device, we tested the device to take the data. We use three PING ultrasonic sensors which are put at the sides of the glasses. The device will give eight different kinds of voices through the earphone. The voices depend upon the output of the PING ultrasonic sensors

Wearable obstacle avoidance electronic travel aids for blind and visually impaired individuals : a systematic review

Background Wearable obstacle avoidance electronic travel aids (ETAs) have been developed to assist the safe displacement of blind and visually impaired individuals (BVIs) in indoor/outdoor spaces. This systematic review aimed to understand the strengths and weaknesses of existing ETAs in terms of hardware functionality, cost, and user experience. These elements may influence the usability of the ETAs and are valuable in guiding the development of superior ETAs in the future. Methods Formally published studies designing and developing the wearable obstacle avoidance ETAs were searched for from six databases from their inception to April 2023. The PRISMA 2020 and APISSER guidelines were followed. Results Eighty-nine studies were included for analysis, 41 of which were judged to be of moderate to high quality. Most wearable obstacle avoidance ETAs mainly depend on camera- and ultrasonic-based techniques to achieve perception of the environment. Acoustic feedback was the most common human-computer feedback form used by the ETAs. According to user experience, the efficacy and safety of the device was usually their primary concern. Conclusions Although many conceptualised ETAs have been designed to facilitate BVIs' independent navigation, most of these devices suffer from shortcomings. This is due to the nature and limitations of the various processors, environment detection techniques and human-computer feedback those ETAs are equipped with. Integrating multiple techniques and hardware into one ETA is a way to improve performance, but there is still a need to address the discomfort of wearing the device and the high-cost. Developing an applicable systematic review guideline along with a credible quality assessment tool for these types of studies is also required. © 2013 IEEE

Electronic Travel Aid for Visually Impaired People Along with a Panic Alert System

There are many issues over which humans have no control. Blindness is one of such issues. It snatches the vivid visual beauty of the world from an individual’s life.But missing the beauty of nature becomes one of the last worries of such people as they have to face numerous difficulties in order to perform even the most basics of tasks in their day to day life. One of their most important problems is of transport, such as crossing roads, traveling in trains, or in any other public places. A visually impaired person to survive the fittest in this world, the person must go through all the obstacles without the guidance of others. One of the most important measures to avoid the obstacle by the blind is to provide an assistive implementation, which can help to wander on their own. The main aim of this project is to provide an assistive technology used for the purpose of enhancing the mobility of the blind pedestrian which is commonly referred to as Electronic Travel Aid (ETA) and to motivate the blind without having the inferior feeling of their problem and pay away the blind to move on their own . In this project, a smart guiding ETA is used to guide the user to sense the obstacle before them. This device eliminates the requirement of human assistance for blind while traveling outside. It will identify all obstacles in the path with the help of various sensors installed in it. The microcontroller will retrieve data and pass it on as vibrations which will notify the user about hurdles