Walkable area and pavement anomaly segmentation for MSVI-supervised autonomous pedestrian navigation

Theia是一种面向视力障碍者的定向和移动设备。英国广播公司科学焦点杂志将其命名为塑造未来的头号发明（2020年）。Theia的发明者Anthony Camu被评为Innovate 2021/22年度青年创新者。可以把它想象成一只导盲犬，帮助视障用户导航。我们正在申请专利的设备扫描地面，并生成用户环境的3D地图。我们已经开发了我们产品的原型，并在Alpha和Beta阶段对用户进行了广泛的测试。它能够成功地支持VI人识别障碍物和安全导航。这对英国的35万盲人和部分失明者以及全球约3亿人来说可能是个好消息。在英国，95%的盲人和部分失明的人在三个月内与邻居的障碍物相撞，三分之一的人受伤（RNIB，2017）。最有效的支持是导盲犬，但导盲犬的数量根本不够。只有1/72符合条件的VI人获得导盲犬，留下很大一部分VI人需要其他支持和指导。这就是Theia可以提供帮助的地方！然而，为了使我们的产品更有效，我们需要一个新的研发项目来研究如何改进Theia帮助用户在自主引导的同时了解他们的直接环境。为了帮助我们做到这一点，我们将与Vista Blind合作，这是一家位于莱斯特的慈善机构，支持视力障碍者。Vista Blind将支持视障用户以用户为主导的设计研讨会，围绕用户体验塑造我们的解决方案。在这个项目结束时，我们将有一个经过测试的原型，可以帮助视障人士过上更安全的生活。

Theia is an orientation and mobility device for people with visual impairments. BBC Science Focus Magazine named it as the number one invention that will shape the future (2020). Anthony Camu, Theia's inventor, was named as Innovate's Young Innovator of the Year 2021/22\.Think of it as a guide dog helping Visually Impaired users to navigate.Our patent pending device scans the ground and generates a 3D map of the user's environment. It then uses forces to guide user's hands -- similar to a guide dog pulling on its leash.We have already developed a prototype of our product and tested it extensively with users in Alpha and Beta phases. It is able to successfully support VI people in identifying obstacles and navigating safely.This is potentially good news for the 350,000 blind and partially sighted people in the UK and approximately 300 million worldwide. In the UK, 95% of blind and partially sighted people have collided with an obstacle in their neighbourhood within a three-month period with a third suffering injuries (RNIB, 2017).The most effective support is a guide dog, but there simply are not enough of them. Only 1 in 72 eligible VI people receive a guide dog, leaving a large proportion of VI's requiring alternative support and guidance.That is where Theia can help! However, to make our product more effective a new R&D project is required to look at how to improve the way Theia helps users understand their immediate environment whilst being guided autonomously.To help us get this right, we will be working with Vista Blind, a Leicester-based charity supporting those with visual impairments. Vista Blind will support user-led design workshops with visually impaired users to shape our solution around user experience.At the end of this project, we will have a tested prototype that is ready to help visually impaired people live safer lives.