Developing a Self-Calibrating Navigation System to Address the Orientation Challenges faced by Older People with Visual Impairments

在英国，有超过200万老年人患有视力丧失（AgeUK\_2015）；全球估计为2.53亿（Ackland\_et\_al\_2017）。随着人口老龄化，这一数字将会增加，因为视力丧失对老年人的影响不成比例。视力丧失的人可以借助白色手杖四处走动，通常还可以借助智能手机导航应用程序。这些功能包括屏幕阅读器、色彩滤镜和灵巧工具等辅助功能。然而，长手杖只能探测到膝盖以下的障碍物，并且距离使用者大约1米。此外，大多数智能手机界面都没有为这些可访问性功能提供足够的兼容性，限制了它们的实用性。这使得视障人士（vii）在繁忙的城市地区安全导航尤其具有挑战性，特别是在汽车、自行车和行人近在咫尺的地方。为了应对这一挑战，WeWALK开发了一种革命性的“智能”设备，可以固定在用户现有的手杖上，升级了5000多万人依赖的工具。我们的手杖可以检测到膝盖到头部高度的障碍物，并通过与谷歌地图、Moovit和微软服务的集成，独特地连接到用户的智能手机，提供基于音频的导航。项目合作伙伴为增强WeWALK的室内定位所做的努力发现，在包括户外在内的所有环境中，都可以通过态势感知实现无缝寻路。该项目将解决这一挑战，包括个人无法确定最终目的地或交通路线的最后一英里问题，为老年vii创建一个完全自主、全面、安全关键且可访问的导航系统。最近的辅助智能手机应用程序包括用于物体识别的计算机视觉，以及通过同步定位和地图（SLAM）的概念进行环境地图和定位。它们的基本原理在解决WeWALK的导航约束时非常有用；然而，到目前为止，他们还没有展示出足够的系统性能（准确性/可靠性/可用性），用于安全关键应用，例如使VII能够在城市环境中导航，避免危险。我们将解决技术/安全方面的挑战，这些挑战阻碍了计算机视觉辅助导航的广泛采用，包括环境测绘和老年人和vii的整体态势感知。我们将以现有的WeWALK架构为基础，采用新的硬件和软件，结合空间传感和先进的数据分析，提供安全关键功能和可用性框架。这个项目有可能在确保越来越多的视障人士充分进入我们生活、工作和娱乐的城市空间方面发挥至关重要的作用。

There are over 2 million older people with sight loss in the UK(AgeUK\_2015); globally, it's estimated to be 253 million(Ackland\_et\_al\_2017). As the population ages, this figure will increase as sight loss disproportionally impacts older people. People with sight loss benefit from the white cane to get around, often in conjunction with smartphone navigation apps. These can include accessibility features such as screen readers, colour filters, and dexterity tools. However, a long cane can only detect obstacles below knee-height and within approximately 1m of the user. Moreover, most smartphone interfaces are not developed with sufficient compatibility for these accessibility features, limiting their usefulness. This makes it particularly challenging for visually impaired individuals(VIIs) to navigate safely in busy urban areas, especially where cars, bicycles, and pedestrians are found in close proximity.To address this challenge, WeWALK have developed a revolutionary "smart" device that screws onto a user's existing cane, upgrading a tool relied on by over 50 million people. Our cane detects obstacles at knee-to-head height and uniquely connects to a user's smartphone to provide audio-based navigation via integration with Google Maps, Moovit, and Microsoft services. Efforts to enhance WeWALK's indoor positioning by the project partners have uncovered that seamless wayfinding in all environments, including outdoors, is possible with situational awareness. This project will address this challenge, including the last-mile problem where individuals fail to locate their final destination or transport route, creating a fully autonomous, comprehensive, safety-critical, and accessible navigation system for older VIIs.Recent assistive smartphone apps have included computer vision for object recognition in addition to environmental mapping and localisation through the concept of simultaneous localisation and mapping (SLAM). Their underlying principle can be very useful in solving WeWALK's navigation constraints; however, to date, they have not demonstrated adequate system performance(accuracy/reliability/usability) for use in a safety-critical application such as enabling a VII to navigate, avoiding hazards, around an urban environment.We will address the technical/safety challenges that have prevented widespread uptake of computer vision-aided navigation including environmental mapping and overall situational awareness for older and VIIs. We will build on the existing WeWALK architecture with new hardware and software, incorporating spatial sensing and advanced data analytics, providing safety-critical functionality and usability frameworks. This project has the potential to play a vital role in ensuring that the rising numbers of visually impaired people have full access to the urban spaces where we live, work, and play.