SBIR Phase II: Assistive Digital Vision for the Blind

该项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力是解决盲人和视障人群未满足的需求，通过智能可穿戴电子设备的帮助，以简单和经济的方式增加他们的行动独立性，与白手杖兼容。该项目的成果将通过开发一个由传感器和基础算法组成的综合系统，能够收集、处理和解释环境数据，并向用户传达相关信息，从而促进对环境传感和过程自动化的科学和技术理解。设想中的产品可以满足美国2.1%的法定盲人的需求，并为机器人、人工智能和其他辅助技术领域做出进一步的贡献，在这些领域，人们需要更好地了解环境。这项小型企业创新研究（SBIR）第二阶段项目旨在为视障人士创造一种最先进的可穿戴设备，通过使用多个传感器和智能算法来增强他们的态势感知能力。主要研究目标是开发一种智能可穿戴设备，该设备将提供探测地面上障碍物和识别各种类别物体的能力。尽管有了重大的技术突破，导致了许多产品的创新，但视障人士的技术进步很少，尽管人口寿命延长，对促进独立生活的产品有很大的需求。建议项目将以直观和自动化的方式解决视障人士的需要。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this project is to address the unmet needs of blind and visually impaired population in order to increased their mobility independence with the aid of an intelligent wearable electronic device, compatible with the white cane, in a simple and cost-effective manner. The outcome of this project will contribute to scientific and technological understanding of environmental sensing and process automation by developing an integrated system comprised of sensors and underlying algorithms capable of gathering, processing, and interpreting environmental data and communicating relevant information to the user. The envisioned product can potentially meet the needs of 2.1% of the U.S. population who are considered legally blind, as well as make further contribution to the field of robotics, artificial intelligence, and other assistive technologies wherein a better understanding of the environment is desired. This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase 2 project seeks to create a state of the art wearable device for the visually impaired that will enhance their situational awareness through the use of multiple sensors and intelligent algorithms. The main research objective is to develop an intelligent wearable device that will provide ability to detect above ground obstacles and recognize various categories of objects. In spite of significant technological breakthroughs, leading to many product innovations, there is very little technological progress for the visually impaired despite increased population longevity and significant demand for products that promote independent living. The proposed project will address the needs of the visually impaired in an intuitive and automated manner.