Using Augmented Reality and Internet of Things to improve accessibility of people with motor disabilities in the context of Smart Cities

Abstract

Smart Cities need to be designed to allow the inclusion of all kinds of citizens. For instance, motor disabled people like wheelchair users may have problems to interact with the city. Internet of Things (IoT) technologies provide the tools to include all citizens in the Smart City context. For example, wheelchair users may not be able to reach items placed beyond their arm's length, limiting their independence in everyday activities like shopping, or visiting libraries. We have developed a system that enables wheelchair users to interact with items placed beyond their arm's length, with the help of Augmented Reality (AR) and Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technologies. Our proposed system is an interactive AR application that runs on different interfaces, allowing the user to digitally interact with the physical items on the shelf, thanks to an updated inventory provided by an RFID system. The resulting experience is close to being able to browse a shelf, clicking on it and obtaining information about the items it contains, allowing wheelchair users to shop independently, and providing autonomy in their everyday activities. Fourteen wheelchair users with different degrees of impairment have participated in the study and development of the system.

Augmented Reality for Real-Time Navigation Assistance to Wheelchair Users with Obstacles’ Management

“…They have been working on social inclusion improvements of motor disabled people. In [3], authors have classified motor disabled people into different categories based on their hand stability, and have evaluated various types of interfaces. In [4], a smart wheelchair that can be controlled by gestures has been presented.…”

“…These algorithms are designed to provide the optimal path. In [3] authors described an application based on AR and radio frequency identification (RFID) technologies allowing wheelchair users to do shopping and browsing independently with the help of a smartphone or a tablet. Besides, the smart glasses "Glasschair" are used to control the electric wheelchairs with the help head movements 1 .The meaning of the word AR is vast; some of the expert uses a general meaning for it, although others mean some-thing very definite.…”

Planning Support Tool for Checking Building Form Legality With Augmented Reality

“…设计、工程和建设 [20] 等领域；据由权威游戏市场调查公司Digi-Capital平 台发布的《2015年AR/VR发展报告》估计，到2020年，AR技术的市场 份额将达到近1 200亿美元，比2014年激增近5万倍 [21] 。在城市规划设 计领域，AR也作为一种新技术推动了文化遗产保护 [22] [23] 与智慧城市建 设 [24] [25] 。 近年来，城市规划与设计的决策越发注重吸纳所有利益相关方的 意见(包括普通居民和城市管理者) [26] ；另一方面，在高密度城市环境 中进行建设需遵循的规划设计条例十分复杂，非专业人士往往对其并 不了解 [2] [10] ，在上述决策中的参与度非常有限。因此，公众参与者迫 切需要了解城市规划设计条例的渠道。当前的虚拟现实(VR)等技术 虽然已能实现城市规划与设计方案的3D可视化与虚拟漫游等功能， 但无法在虚拟建筑模型与真实建筑之间建立直观联系 [27] 1. The permitted buildings of the category I exclusively low-rise residential zone include residential buildings which are also used as small shops or offices and elementary / junior high school buildings; In addition to elementary / junior high school buildings, certain types of the permitted buildings of the category II exclusively low-rise residential zone include shop buildings with a floor area of up to 150 m 2 are permitted.…”

Role of Augmented Reality Applications for Smart City Planning

“…(Rashid, .et al 2017) [5]. Ozcan, U et al (2017) [6] investigated the application of augmented reality within college campus in which they developed an AR prototype for visual aid within campus. B.…”