Mobility Aid For The BlindMobility Aid For The Blind

By Amir Gonnen

The oldest aidsThe oldest aidsWalking CaneGuide dogProblems:

– Skills and Training phase– Range– Very little information conveyed

A Technological SolutionA Technological Solution

Information about the

environment

Digital Processing

Perceptual input perceived

by the blind

Sensor Computer Output Device

This is where I’m going to focus

Recent DevelopmentsRecent DevelopmentsSoundscapes from “The vOICe”“Stereo vision system for the Visually

Impaired”, University of Guelph, Canada

The “NavBelt”The “GuideCane”

“ “ The vOICeThe vOICe””

Stereo VisionStereo Vision

The “NavBeltThe “NavBelt””

The “GuideCaneThe “GuideCane””

ProblemsProblemsToo much informationMissing sub-conscious vision

processes– Interpretation of a continuous 2D

signal into a set of recognizable objects in a 3D space

– Movement velocity and direction

SolutionSolution

Emulating some of the sub-conscious processes in a computer

Describe the world as a set of objects in a 3D space

Intro to the SimulationIntro to the Simulation

Do We Get A Better Do We Get A Better PerceptionPerception??

The Simulation:– A 3D room with several objects– Each object has its own sound

The sound is located at the object– Stereo sound the direction of the object– Volume How far is the object

The beat scanner– divides the field view into sectors– More accurate perceptual direction

More About the SimulationMore About the SimulationThe simulation solves several

problems:– How to separate sounds of different

objects, so that not all objects will be heard at once ?

– How to give a good indication of object’s type, direction and distance at the same time ?

Tradeoff between Resolution in Time and in Space.

ExperimentExperimentLet the subject close her eyes and

guess which object is visible, its direction and its distance.

Results:– Recognition was correct in 80%-90% of

the cases.– Notable improvement over time.

Experiment VideoExperiment Video

ConclusionConclusionStill a lot of work to be done

– Computer vision: how do we recognize objects on 3D space using a raw 2D signal ?

– How do we assign sounds to different objects ?

– How much information can be perceived using sound in a given time frame ?

Real progress could be achieved when we understand and able to emulate the cognitive processes of human vision