Stair case detection and recognition using ultrasonic signal

Bouhamed, Sonda Ammar; Kallel, Imen Khanfir; Masmoudi, Dorra Sellami

doi:10.1109/tsp.2013.6614021

Cited by 22 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 15 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Therefore, the selection of the type and number of sensors should be made in a manner that has no effects on the first two techniques but improves the ability of obstacle detection and extends the range beyond the physical length of the cane. Only a few studies (Bouhamed, Kallel & Masmoudi, 2013; Nada et al, 2015; Okayasu, 2010; Pyun et al, 2013) attempted to supplement the shorelining technique only. The design of the virtual white cane needs attention, as the nonavailability of the physical cane affects the echolocation and shorelining capabilities of the users, although they do support obstacle detection due to their inherent design for detecting obstacles.…”

Section: Summary Of Key Observationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Technology-assisted white cane: evaluation and future directions

Khan

Khusro

Ullah

2018

PeerJ

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

BackgroundSeveral technology-assisted aids are available to help blind and visually impaired people perform their daily activities. The current research uses the state-of-the-art technology to enhance the utility of traditional navigational aids to produce solutions that are more reliable. In this regard, a white cane is no exception, which is supplemented with the existing technologies to design Electronic Travel Aids (ETAs), Electronic Orientation Aids (EOAs), and Position Locator Devices (PLDs). Although several review articles uncover the strengths and limitations of research contributions that extend traditional navigational aids, we find no review article that covers research contributions on a technology-assisted white cane. The authors attempt to fill this literature gap by reviewing the most relevant research articles published during 2010–2017 with the common objective of enhancing the utility of white cane with the existing technology.MethodsThe authors have collected the relevant literature published during 2010–17 by searching and browsing all the major digital libraries and publishers’ websites. The inclusion/exclusion criteria were applied to select the research articles that are relevant to the topic of this review article, and all other irrelevant papers were excluded. Among the 577 (534 through database searching and 43 through other sources) initially screened papers, the authors collected 228 full-text articles, which after applying exclusion/inclusion criteria resulted in 36 papers that were included in the evaluation, comparison, and discussion. This also includes research articles of commercially available aids published before the specified range.ResultsThe findings show that the research trend is shifting towards developing a technology-assisted white cane solution that is applicable in both indoor and outdoor environments to aid blind users in navigation. In this regard, exploiting smartphones to develop low-cost and user-friendly navigation solution is among the best research opportunities to explore. In addition, the authors contribute a theoretical evaluation framework to compare and evaluate the state-of-the-art solutions, identify research trends and future directions.DiscussionResearchers have been in the quest to find out ways of enhancing the utility of white cane using existing technology. However, for a more reliable enhancement, the design should have user-centric characteristics. It should be portable, reliable, trust-worthy, lightweight, less costly, less power hungry, and require minimal training with special emphasis on its ergonomics and social acceptance. Smartphones, which are the ubiquitous and general-purpose portable devices, should be considered to exploit its capabilities in making technology-assisted white cane smarter and reliable.

show abstract

Section: Summary Of Key Observationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Technology-assisted white cane: evaluation and future directions

Khan

Khusro

Ullah

2018

PeerJ

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Therefore, the selection of the type and number of sensors should be made in a manner that has no effects on the first two techniques but improves the ability of obstacle detection and extends the range beyond the physical length of the cane. Only a few studies (Bouhamed et al 2013;Nada et al 2015;Okayasu 2010;Pyun et al 2013) attempted to supplement the shorelining technique only. The design of the virtual white cane needs attention, as the nonavailability of the physical cane affects the echolocation and shorelining capabilities of the users, although they do support obstacle detection due to their inherent design for detecting obstacles.…”

Section: The Use Of Sensorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Peer Review #2 of "Technology-assisted white cane: evaluation and future directions (v0.1)"

Dagnelie¹

2018

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background. Several technology-assisted aids are available to help blind and visually impaired people perform their daily activities. The current research uses the state-of-the-art technology to enhance the utility of traditional navigational aids to produce solutions that are more reliable. In this regard, a white cane is no exception, which is supplemented with the existing technologies to design Electronic Travel Aids (ETAs), Electronic Orientation Aids (EOAs), and Position Locator Devices (PLDs). Although several review articles uncover the strengths and limitations of research contributions that extend traditional navigational aids, we find no review article that covers research contributions on a technology-assisted white cane. The authors attempt to fill this literature gap by reviewing the most relevant research articles published during 2010-2017 with the common objective of enhancing the utility of white cane with the existing technology. Methods. The authors have collected the relevant literature published during 2010-17 by searching and browsing all the major digital libraries and publishers' websites. The inclusion/exclusion criteria were applied to select the research articles that are relevant to the topic of this review article, and all other irrelevant papers were excluded. Among the 577 (534 through database searching and 43 through other sources) initially screened papers, the authors collected 228 full-text articles, which after applying exclusion/ inclusion criteria resulted in 36 papers that were included in the evaluation, comparison, and discussion. This also includes research articles of commercially available aids published before the specified range. Results. The findings show that the research trend is shifting towards developing a technology-assisted white cane solution that is applicable in both indoor and outdoor environments to aid blind users in navigation. In this regard, exploiting smartphone to develop low-cost and user-friendly navigation solution is among the best research opportunities to explore. In addition, the authors contribute a theoretical evaluation framework to compare and evaluate the state-of-the-art solutions, identify research trends and future directions. Discussion. Researchers have been in the quest to find out ways of enhancing the utility of white cane using existing technology. However, for a more reliable enhancement, the design should have usercentric characteristics. It should be portable, reliable, trustworthy , lightweight, less costly, less power hungry, and require minimal training with special emphasis on its ergonomics and social acceptance. Smartphones, which are the ubiquitous and general-purpose portable devices, should be considered to exploit its capabilities in making technology-assisted white cane smarter and reliable.

show abstract

“…Electronic travel aids use distance measurements, inertial measurements, position information, or images to perceive the environment and convey that information to the user with audio or tactile feedback (table S1). For collision avoidance, some electronic travel aids rely on distance measurements from ultrasonic or light detection and ranging (LIDAR) sensors mounted to a white cane (24) or the user's body (25) to detect nearby obstacles, obstacles at head height (26), or drop-offs (27,28). Electronic travel aids can perform outdoor wayfinding with position information from GPS (29) or indoor wayfinding in specific locations with preplaced position sensors (30,31) or environment maps (32,18).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Multimodal sensing and intuitive steering assistance improve navigation and mobility for people with impaired vision

2021

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Globally, more than 250 million people have impaired vision and face challenges navigating outside their homes, affecting their independence, mental health, and physical health. Navigating unfamiliar routes is challenging for people with impaired vision because it may require avoiding obstacles, recognizing objects, and wayfinding indoors and outdoors. Existing approaches such as white canes, guide dogs, and electronic travel aids only tackle some of these challenges. Here, we present the Augmented Cane, a white cane with a comprehensive set of sensors and an intuitive feedback method to steer the user, which addresses navigation challenges and improves mobility for people with impaired vision. We compared the Augmented Cane with a white cane by having sighted and visually impaired participants complete navigation challenges while blindfolded: walking along hallways, avoiding obstacles, and following outdoor waypoints. Across all experiments, the Augmented Cane increased the walking speed for participants with impaired vision by 18 ± 7% and sighted participants by 35 ± 12% compared with a white cane. The increase in walking speed may be due to accurate steering assistance, reduced cognitive load, fewer contacts with the environment, and higher participant confidence. We also demonstrate advanced navigation capabilities of the Augmented Cane: indoor wayfinding, recognizing and steering the participant to a key object, and navigating a sequence of indoor and outdoor challenges. The open-source and low-cost design of the Augmented Cane provides a platform that may improve the mobility and quality of life of people with impaired vision.

show abstract

Stair case detection and recognition using ultrasonic signal

Cited by 22 publications

References 15 publications

Technology-assisted white cane: evaluation and future directions

Technology-assisted white cane: evaluation and future directions

Peer Review #2 of "Technology-assisted white cane: evaluation and future directions (v0.1)"

Multimodal sensing and intuitive steering assistance improve navigation and mobility for people with impaired vision

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About