Spatial navigation in the absence of vision has been investigated from a variety of perspectives and disciplines. These different approaches have progressed our understanding of spatial knowledge acquisition by blind individuals, including their abilities, strategies, and corresponding mental representations. In this review, we propose a framework for investigating differences in spatial knowledge acquisition by blind and sighted people consisting of three longitudinal models (i.e., convergent, cumulative, and persistent). Recent advances in neuroscience and technological devices have provided novel insights into the different neural mechanisms underlying spatial navigation by blind and sighted people and the potential for functional reorganization. Despite these advances, there is still a lack of consensus regarding the extent to which locomotion and wayfinding depend on amodal spatial representations. This challenge largely stems from methodological limitations such as heterogeneity in the blind population and terminological ambiguity related to the concept of cognitive maps. Coupled with an over-reliance on potential technological solutions, the field has diffused into theoretical and applied branches that do not always communicate. Here, we review research on navigation by congenitally blind individuals with an emphasis on behavioral and neuroscientific evidence, as well as the potential of technological assistance. Throughout the article, we emphasize the need to disentangle strategy choice and performance when discussing the navigation abilities of the blind population. For further resources related to this article, please visit the WIREs website.

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/wcs.1375

Spatial navigation by congenitally blind individuals.

Can robots in classroom reshape K-12 STEM education, and foster new ways of learning? To sketch an answer, this article reviews, side-by-side, existing literature on robot-based learning activities featuring mathematics and physics (purposefully putting aside the well-studied field of “robots to teach robotics”) and existing robot platforms and toolkits suited for classroom environment (in terms of cost, ease of use, orchestration load for the teacher, etc.). Our survey suggests that the use of robots in classroom has indeed moved from purely technology to education, to encompass new didactic fields. We however identified several shortcomings, in terms of robotic platforms and teaching environments, that contribute to the limited presence of robotics in existing curricula; the lack of specific teacher training being likely pivotal. Finally, we propose an educational framework merging the tangibility of robots with the advanced visibility of augmented reality.

/pdf/a-review-can-robots-reshape-k-12-stem-education-3q16f1wzo1.pdf

A review: Can robots reshape K-12 STEM education?

Mathematical reasoning and proof offer powerful ways of developing and expressing insights about a wide range of phenomena. People who reason and think analytically tend to note patterns, structure, or regularities in both real-world situations and symbolic objects; they ask if those patterns are accidental or if they occur for a reason; and they conjecture and prove. Ultimately, a mathematical proof is a formal way of expressing particular kinds of reasoning and justification.

Reasoning and Proof

Autonomous mobile robots are required to move throughout map the environment, locate themselves, and plan paths between positions. Vision stands out among the other senses for its richness and practicality. Even though there are well-established autonomous navigation solutions, as far as we can tell, no complete autonomous navigation system that is solely based on vision and that is suitable for dynamic indoor environments has fully succeeded. This article presents a systematic literature review of methods and techniques used to solve the complete autonomous navigation problem or its parts: localization, mapping, path planning, and locomotion. The focus of this review lays on vision-based methods for indoor environments and ground robots. A total of 121 studies were considered, comprising methods, conceptual models, and other literature reviews published between 2000 and 2017. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first systematic review about vision-based autonomous navigation suitable for dynamic indoor environments. It addresses navigation methods, autonomous navigation requirements, vision benefits, methods testing, and implementations validation. The results of this review show a deficiency in testing and validation of presented methods, poor requirements specification, and a lack of complete navigation systems in the literature. These results should encourage new works on computer vision techniques, requirements specification, development, integration, and systematic testing and validation of general navigation systems. In addition to these findings, we also present the complete methodology used for the systematic review, which provides a documentation of the process (allowing quality assessment and repeatability), the criteria for selecting and evaluating the studies, and a framework that can be used for future reviews in this research area.

Autonomous Visual Navigation for Mobile Robots: A Systematic Literature Review

Nowadays, companies are demanding better‐prepared professionals to succeed in a digital society, and the acquisition of Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics (STEAM)‐related competencies is a key issue. One of the main problems in this sense is how to integrate STEAM into the current educational curricula. This is not something related to a subject or educational trend but rather to new methodological approaches that can engage students. In this sense, such active methodologies that apply mechatronics and robotics could be an interesting path to pursue. Given this context, the first necessary task in evaluating the potential of this approach is to understand the landscape of the application of robotics and mechatronics in STEAM Education and how active methodologies are applied in this sense. To carry out this analysis in a systematic and replicable manner, it is necessary to follow a methodology. In this case, the researchers employ a systematic mapping review. This paper presents this process and its main findings. Fifty‐four studies have been selected out of 242 total studies analyzed. From these, beyond obtaining a clear vision of the STEAM landscape regarding project topics, we can also conclude that robotics and physical devices have been applied successfully with collaborative methodologies in STEAM Education. Regarding conclusions, this paper shows that robotics and mechatronics applied with active methodologies is to be a good means to engage students in STEAM disciplines and thus aid the acquisition of what is commonly known as “21st‐century skills.”

Fostering STEAM through challenge‐based learning, robotics, and physical devices: A systematic mapping literature review

This paper presents a system which integrates a geographic information system of a building with computer vision. It uses only one camera, for example, the one of a mobile phone. Visual landmarks, such as frontal and lateral doors, stairs, signs, and fire extinguishers, are employed for localizing the user in the building and for tracing and validating a route for the user's navigation. The developed system clearly improves the autonomy of persons with a very low vision during indoor navigation.

Computer vision and GIS for the navigation of blind persons in buildings

Over the past few years, there has been a growing interest in using robots in education. The use of these tangible devices in combination with problem-based learning activities results in more motivated students, higher grades and a growing interest in the STEM areas. However, most educational robotics systems still have some restrictions like high cost, long setup time, need of installing software in children's computers, etc. We present a new, low-cost, classroom-oriented educational robotics system that does not require the installation of any software. It can be used with computers, tablets or smartphones. It also supports multiple robots and the system can be setup and is ready to be used in under 5 minutes. The robotics system that will be presented has been successfully used by two classes of 3rd and 4th graders. Besides improving mathematical reasoning, the system can be employed as a motivational tool for any subject.

/pdf/a-low-cost-classroom-oriented-educational-robotics-system-35f9kznedj.pdf

A Low-Cost Classroom-Oriented Educational Robotics System

Object recognition requires that templates with canonical views are stored in memory. Such templates must somehow be normalised. In this paper we present a novel method for obtaining 2D translation, rotation and size invariance. Cortical simple, complex and end-stopped cells provide multi-scale maps of lines, edges and keypoints. These maps are combined such that objects are characterised. Dynamic routing in neighbouring neural layers allows feature maps of input objects and stored templates to converge. We illustrate the construction of group templates and the invariance method for object categorisation and recognition in the context of a cortical architecture, which can be applied in computer vision.

/pdf/invariant-multi-scale-object-categorisation-and-recognition-4nqt7p17yl.pdf

J. M. Buf

Papers

Computer vision and GIS for the navigation of blind persons in buildings

A Low-Cost Classroom-Oriented Educational Robotics System

Invariant Multi-scale Object Categorisation and Recognition