MSVI - supervised autonomous pedestrian navigation: Feasibility study to integrate a smartphone for computational offloading and UX optimisation

Theia是一种为视力障碍者提供定向和行动能力的设备。BBC科学焦点杂志将其命名为将塑造未来(2020)的头号发明。Theia的发明者Anthony Camu是2021/22年度英国青年创新者联盟的获奖者。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可以扫描地面，并生成用户环境的3D地图。然后，它使用力来引导用户的手-类似于导盲犬拉着皮带。我们已经开发了我们产品的原型，并在Alpha和Beta阶段的用户中进行了广泛的测试。它能够成功地支持VI人识别障碍物并安全导航。这对英国35万盲人和部分视力者以及全球约3亿人来说是个潜在的好消息。在英国，95%的盲人和部分失明的人曾在三个月内与附近的障碍物相撞，三分之一受伤(RNIB，2017)。最有效的支持是导盲犬，但导盲犬的数量根本不够。72个合格的VI人中只有1人得到导盲犬，留下很大比例的VI需要其他支持和指导。这就是Theia可以帮助的地方！我们正在开发一种设备，它可以完成导盲犬所做的许多工作。然而，为了让我们的产品更有效，并更快地将我们的产品推向市场，需要一个新的研发项目来研究不同的硬件配置，以降低设备成本、尺寸、重量和功率要求，从而产生更以用户为中心和可扩展的产品。

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, is an awardee of the Innovate UK Young Innovator cohort from 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! We're developing a device that does many of the jobs a guide dog does. However, to make our product more effective and get our product to market sooner, a new R&D project is required to research different hardware configurations to reduce device cost, size, weight and power requirements, to lead to a more user-centric and scalable product.