Transcript [Poster title] - Oakland University

Wearable Devices for Increasing the Quality of Life for the Visually Impaired
SIBHI/UnCoRe 2007
Contributors: Brilleasha Moore, Charles Bardel, Darrin M. Hanna, PhD; Clint
ABSTRACT
TITLE:
METHODS
Wearable Devices for Increasing the Quality of Life for the Visually Impaired
 Related Works
BACKGROUND:
Sensor Data and Output
Obstacle device
What others have created in wearable devices [Add description of key point.]
There are approximately 14 million visually impaired people in the United States of those 109,000 use long canes
to get around and just over 7,000 Americans use guide dogs. For most it is inconvenient to use the traditional
solutions to navigate their environment.
Prototype Construction
 Clint’s feedback
Clint’s feedback was mainly a description of the problems he was having in everyday
 Components
 Schematic
Components for the obstacle device
 The PIC
OBJECTIVE:
 Is a microcontroller that handles
The goal of this work is to significantly increase the quality of life for a visually impaired subject. The results of
the effusiveness of the device are measured by giving a quality of life survey before and after using the device.
the data processing of the
• Wearable low vision aid (WLVA) - http://www.hitl.washington.edu/projects/wlva/
PROTOTYPE CONSTRUCTION:
sensors and output to the wrist bands
Related Works
METHODS:
In order to create this device certain methods was used such as related works and Clint’s feedback.
 Sensors
 The sensors are small ultrasonic
– Created a low power, portable, and assistive device to aid the visually impaired.
– WLVA that incorporates infrared (IR) illumination and efficient machine vision algorithms to
identify potential walking hazards and a scanning fiber display to present bright icons to warn the
user.
– The WLVA hardware will undergo a significant reduction in size, using a single tubular
piezoelectric actuator less than 2mm in diameter to generate over 50 times more pixels while
maintaining its extreme low cost.
– A printed circuit board has been designed to significantly reduce the weight and size of the
backpack electronics as well.
Consist of the components and schematic which was used for the layout of the prototype.
RESULTS:
[Add text here.]
CONCLUSIONS:
[Add text here.]
• Wearable system for mobility improvement of visually impaired people -
BACKGROUND
http://infoscience.epfl.ch/getfile.py?recid=99038&mode=best
– Obstacle detection system for the visually impaired
– The user is alerted of closed obstacles in range while traveling in their environment.
– The system detects obstacle that surrounds the user by using multi-sonar system and sending
appropriate vibro-tactile feedback.
– The system aims at increasing the mobility of visually impaired people by offering new sensing
abilities.
– However, with maximum power consumption below the Watt, the system can run for
hours out of a single battery supply.
– The current system still need little improvements before a perfect fit to the application but
demonstrates perfectly its usability.
What causes visual impairment?
– Illnesses - such as diabetes, cataracts, glaucoma, cornea disorder
– Genetic or inherited from the parents to their children
– Eyes not fully developed before birth
– Accident to the eye
– Some people who are 50 years of age and older
transmitters and receivers
that “ping” the local environment
- Mainly detects proximity
 IR sensors are more direct then
the ultrasonic sensors.
Components for the wrist bands
 Rechargeable Telephone Battery
 4 volts, 500mAh
 Long lasting than AA or AAA batteries

Chair on right
Motor
 DC motor from old cell
phones because its meant
for low power systems and it was free and convenient
Set down sensors
• Virtual Reality for the Nearly Blind There are four types of visual impairment:
– Partially sighted - little visual problems
http://www.cs.bris.ac.uk/Research/MobileWearable/blind.html
– This project seeks to use the capability of the neural network classifier developed at Bristol
University to provide navigation clues for people with low vision.
– This neural network classifier is capable of recognizing common objects in outdoor scenes and
can label over 90% of the objects in an image into the correct object classes.
– The new system will involve a small camera, which will pass images to a small computer which
will then display a highly stylized image of the scene on a pair of virtual reality spectacles.
– Important objects such as cars, roads and pavements will be presented in vivid, highly contrasting
colors for easy identification.
– This project started in 1997 with funding for a 3-year PhD studentship provided by the National
Eye Research Centre. Additional funding for a further PhD student and a 3-year Research
assistant has now been provided by EPSRC and Quintek plc.
– Subjects for testing the system will be provided by the Bristol Eye Hospital. Initial tests of the
system on a low vision subject from the Bristol National Institute for the Blind has demonstrated
that such a system can provide a considerable improvement in the subjects ability to interpret a
scene.
– Low vision - even with the help of glasses or contact lenses, some individuals still have problems with their
vision
– Legally blind – is defined as visual acuity of 20/200 or less in the better eye with best correction, or their
field of vision is 20 degrees or less in the better eye.
– Totally blind - are people who do not have vision at all and must use something to help them such as
learning Braille, guide dog, visual devices, or a cane
•
•
Approximately 109,000
visually impaired people
in the United States use
long canes to get
around.
Just over 7,000
Americans use dog
guides.
Sensors Circuit
Schematic
Table on the left
Facing chair
CONCLUSIONS
Algorithm for collecting and processing data for the wearable device
foreach(sonic sensor in device){
foreach(dataslot in queue){
If (data is highest recorded)
Record as new high
If (first data collected for a sonic sensor)
Continue
Else
Store the data from the sensor in the queue
}
foreach(data in queue)
Find lowest for this set and divide it by highest ever recorded and record it
}
Record reading from infrared sensor
If (irdata less than acceptable range to floor
OR difference between previous irdata readings is greater than acceptable
Clint’s Feedback
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
OBJECTIVE
Clint have problems with really bright days and low contrast objects.
Have a problem with detecting curbs or stairs
Unable to know a new environment
Knows an environment very well from memory
He doesn't want a guide dog because he doesn't want to put up with taking care of it.
Don’t want the device to go off all the time thus adjustable head set.
Large thigh pad with different vibrating zones or four vibrating wrist band and ankle
brace (Hanna's idea)
• Concerned about the detection angle
• How wide or narrow can the device detect
Microchip
Program
Pseudo-code
range)
Set output of the motors to full power and activate both
Continue
If (center sensor is less than normalized middle range)
Set output of the motors to medium power and activate both
Continue
If (left sensor is less than normalized close range)
Set flag to set output of motors to weak power and flag to activate left
motor
If (right sensor is less than normalized close range)
Set flag to set output of motors to weak power and flag to activate right
The goal of this work is to significantly increase the quality of life for a visually impaired subject.
The results of the effusiveness of the device are measured by giving a quality of life survey before
and after using the device.
Chair on left
motor
Activate motors and output power according to flags
Repeat until it stops sensing
Meeting design criteria
 Can detect objects within defined range

Can detect an increase in distance from the sensors to the ground (down stairs)

The type of object doesn’t have much affect in sensing the object

Objects that are not directly facing the sensors are harder to detect

The false positives and false negatives are too high for practical use
Future Works

Quality of life Survey

Integrate other sensors for a more robust system

Creating the location device and money denomination device
For additional information please contact:
•Department of Computer Science and Engineering
•Rochester, MI 48309
•Tel. 248-370-2200
•Fax 248-370-4625