This technology is a wearable sensor device to assist blind and vision impaired people in navigating new and unfamiliar environments.
Current navigation assistant systems provide turn-by-turn navigation to help vision impaired individuals move throughout their day-to-day life, but do not extend to unfamiliar environments. Existing solutions consist of previously defined maps or routes, and do not account for sudden changes or new obstacles. Although these technologies have helped the blind and low-vision community significantly, these solutions are not generalizable to unexpected situations, limiting the independence of the user.
This wearable device scans the environment, using LiDAR or depth camera technology, to detect the shape and proximity of obstacles. Computer vision algorithms are employed to recognize a variety of surfaces including corners, straight edges, and curved edges. This contextual information is conveyed to the vision-impaired operator using either speech or sonified waveforms, as indicated by the preference of the user. Unlike previous devices, this device can be used in both indoor and outdoor spaces, and can serve as a useful tool for navigating unfamiliar environments.
IR CU23072
Licensing Contact: Greg Maskel