Turn-by-turn navigation is a useful paradigm for assisting people with visual impairments during mobility as it reduces the cognitive load of having to simultaneously sense, localize and plan. To realize such a system, it is necessary to be able to automatically localize the user with sufficient accuracy, provide timely and efficient instructions and have the ability to easily deploy the system to new spaces. We propose a smartphone-based system that provides turn-by-turn navigation assistance based on accurate real-time localization over large spaces. In addition to basic navigation capabilities, our system also informs the user about nearby points-of-interest (POI) and accessibility issues (e.g., stairs ahead). After deploying the system on a university campus across several indoor and outdoor areas, we evaluated it with six blind subjects and showed that our system is capable of guiding visually impaired users in complex and unfamiliar environments.

NavCog: a navigational cognitive assistant for the blind

We investigate how technology can support collaborative learning by children with mixed-visual abilities. Responding to a growing need for tools inclusive of children with vision impairments (VI) for the teaching of computer programing to novice learners, we explore Torino -- a physical programing language for teaching programing constructs and computational thinking to children age 7-11. We draw insights from 12 learning sessions with Torino that involved five pairs of children with vision ranging from blindness to full-sight. Our findings show how sense-making of the technology, collaboration, and learning were enabled through an interplay of system design, programing tasks and social interactions, and how this differed between the pairs. The paper contributes insights on the role of touch, audio and visual representations in designs inclusive of people with VI, and discusses the importance and opportunities provided through the 'social' in negotiations of accessibility, for learning, and for self-perceptions of ability and self-esteem.

/pdf/enabling-collaboration-in-learning-computer-programing-9k8s46owmk.pdf

Enabling Collaboration in Learning Computer Programing Inclusive of Children with Vision Impairments

Navigating in unfamiliar environments is challenging for most people, especially for individuals with visual impairments. While many personal navigation tools have been proposed to enable in- dependent indoor navigation, they have insufficient accuracy (e.g., 5-10 m), do not provide semantic features about surroundings (e.g., doorways, shops, etc.), and may require specialized devices to function. Moreover, the deployment of many systems is often only evaluated in constrained scenarios, which may not precisely reflect the performance in the real world. Therefore, we have de- signed and implemented NavCog3, a smartphone-based indoor navigation assistant that has been evaluated in a 21,000 m2 shop- ping mall. In addition to turn-by-turn instructions, it provides in- formation on landmarks (e.g., tactile paving) and points of interests nearby. We first conducted a controlled study with 10 visually im- paired users to assess localization accuracy and the perceived use- fulness of semantic features. To understand the usability of the app in a real-world setting, we then conducted another study with 43 participants with visual impairments where they could freely nav- igate in the shopping mall using NavCog3. Our findings suggest that NavCog3 can open a new opportunity for users with visual im- pairments to independently find and visit large and complex places with confidence.

NavCog3: An Evaluation of a Smartphone-Based Blind Indoor Navigation Assistant with Semantic Features in a Large-Scale Environment

Blind people need some aid to feel safe while moving. Smart stick comes as a proposed solution to improve the mobility of both blind and visually impaired people. Stick solution use different technologies like ultrasonic, infrared and laser but they still have drawbacks. In this paper we propose, light weight, cheap, user friendly, fast response and low power consumption, smart stick based on infrared technology. A pair of infrared sensors can detect stair-cases and other obstacles presence in the user path, within a range of two meters. The experimental results achieve good accuracy and the stick is able to detect all of obstacles.

Assistive infrared sensor based smart stick for blind people

We present an assistive suitcase system, BBeep, for supporting blind people when walking through crowded environments. BBeep uses pre-emptive sound notifications to help clear a path by alerting both the user and nearby pedestrians about the potential risk of collision. BBeep triggers notifications by tracking pedestrians, predicting their future position in real-time, and provides sound notifications only when it anticipates a future collision. We investigate how different types and timings of sound affect nearby pedestrian behavior. In our experiments, we found that sound emission timing has a significant impact on nearby pedestrian trajectories when compared to different sound types. Based on these findings, we performed a real-world user study at an international airport, where blind participants navigated with the suitcase in crowded areas. We observed that the proposed system significantly reduces the number of imminent collisions.

BBeep: A Sonic Collision Avoidance System for Blind Travellers and Nearby Pedestrians

In modern daily life people need to move, whether in business or leisure, sightseeing or addressing a meeting. Often this is done in familiar environments, but in some cases we need to find our way in unfamiliar scenarios. Visual impairment is a factor that greatly reduces mobility. Currently, the most widespread and used means by the visually impaired people are the white stick and the guide dog; however both present some limitations. With the recent advances in inclusive technology it is possible to extend the support given to people with visual impairment during their mobility. In this context we propose a system, named SmartVision, whose global objective is to give blind users the ability to move around in unfamiliar environments, whether indoor or outdoor, through a user friendly interface that is fed by a geographic information system (GIS). In this paper we propose the development of an electronic white cane that helps moving around, in both indoor and outdoor environments, providing contextualized geographical information using RFID technology.

Electronic white cane for blind people navigation assistance

The autonomy of blind people in their daily life depends on their knowledge of the surrounding world, and they are aided by keen senses and assistive devices that help them to deduce their surroundings. Existing solutions require that users carry a wide range of devices and, mostly, do not include mechanisms to ensure the autonomy of users in the event of system failure. This paper presents the nav4b system that combines guidance and navigation with object's recognition, extending traditional aids (white cane and smartphone). A working prototype was installed on the UTAD campus to perform experiments with blind users.

An integrated system for blind day-to-day life autonomy

People with visual impairments face serious challenges while moving from one place to another. This is a difficult challenge that involves obstacle avoidance, staying on street walks, finding doors, knowing the current location and keeping on track through the desired course, until the destination is reached. While assistive technology has contributed to the improvement of the quality of life of people with disabilities, people with visual impairment still face enormous limitations in terms of their mobility. There is still an enormous lack of availability of information that can be used to assist them, as well as a lack of sufficient precision in terms of the estimation of the user’s location. This paper proposes an infrastructure to assist the estimation of the user’s location with high precision using Radio Frequency Identification, providing seamless availability of location based services for the blind, whether indoor or outdoor.

https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007%2F978-3-642-39342-6_5.pdf

RFID Mesh Network as an Infrastructure for Location Based Services for the Blind

The wide spread of food outlets has become an environmental and sanitation infrastructure problem, due to Fats, Oils and Grease (FOG). A grease box is used at the industrials facilities to collect the FOG, in a specific time window, while its quality is good for recycling (e.g., biodiesel) and it is economically valuable. After this period, it will be disposed at a cost. For the proper management of the grease boxes, it is necessary to know the quantity of FOG inside the boxes, which is a major problem, as the boxes are sealed and permanently filled with water. The lack of homogeneity of the FOG renders it not detectable by current probes for level detection in liquids. In this article, the design, development and testing of a set of probes for FOG level measurement, based on the principles used in sensors for the detection of liquids inside containers, is described. The most suitable probe, based on the capacitance principle, together with the necessary hardware and software modules for data acquisition and transmission, was developed and tested. After the development phase, the probe was integrated on a metropolitan system for FOG collection and grease box management in partnership with a grease box management company.

Probe and Sensors Development for Level Measurement of Fats, Oils and Grease in Grease Boxes

SUMMARY The production of waste pollutants has increased in recent decades at an impressive rate. These pollutants pose a threat to life on our planet, so it is increasingly important to process them correctly. Fortunately, today it is possible to obtain profit through the reuse and recycling of most of these residues, in particular, of vegetable oil, which is especially interesting due to the potential of transforming it into biodiesel. However, this process does present some constraints, mainly related to the operating costs associated with its collection. This paper proposes a new platform that aims to simplify the bureaucracy of the process and optimize the collection routes, thus maximizing the potential profit to be obtained from this business.

J Faria

Papers

Electronic white cane for blind people navigation assistance

An integrated system for blind day-to-day life autonomy

RFID Mesh Network as an Infrastructure for Location Based Services for the Blind

Probe and Sensors Development for Level Measurement of Fats, Oils and Grease in Grease Boxes

Management framework for used cooking oil collection