Sensing Environment through Mobile: A Personalized Wearable Obstacle Detection System for Visually Impaired People
Y. M. K Priyadarshana1, G. D. S. P. Wimalaratne2
1Y.M.K Priyadarshana, UCSC, University of Colombo School of Computing, Colombo, Sri Lanka.
2G.D.S.P Wimalaratne, UCSC, University of Colombo School of Computing, Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Manuscript received on December 08, 2014. | Revised Manuscript received on December 15, 2014. | Manuscript published on January 05, 2014. | PP: 81-88 | Volume-3 Issue-6, January 2014. | Retrieval Number: F1992013614/2014©BEIESP
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© The Authors. Published By: Blue Eyes Intelligence Engineering and Sciences Publication (BEIESP). This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)
Abstract: The challenge of improving the mobility of visually impaired people is still exist in the world even after proposing various types of solutions. This paper presents a wearable obstacle detection approach which can be personalized along with the user through a mobile device. The time of flight characteristic of a sonar wave has been used to identify the obstacles while several methodologies are proposed to classify the identified obstacles. The direction and the distance to an obstacle are informed to the user as a vibration feedback pattern. The approach can be personalized according tocharacteristics of the user such as user’s height, vibration sensitivity, etc. A prototype of this approach has been used to conduct user evaluation experiments which were carried out in an unknown structured environment. Further analysis on familiarization process of this system, obstacle identification and confusions, comparative analysis between white cane and the system and effects of personalization to mobility were executed in order to gauge the effectiveness and the accuracy of the approach. The results of the evaluation have proved that the personalized system facilitate to improve the mobility of visually impaired people while giving an apparent consideration on the 3D environment.
Keywords: Echolocation, Obstacle Detection, Personalized, Visually Impaired.