Developing, Implementing, and Verifying the Integrity of an Indoor Navigation System for Visually Impaired People

为视障人士开发、实施和验证室内导航系统的完整性

• 批准号: 49740
• 金额: $ 49.2万
• 依托单位: WEWALK LIMITED
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Study
• 财政年份: 2020
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2020 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=49740
• 关键词: Developing; Implementing; Verifying; Integrity; Indoor

There are an estimated 250million visually impaired individuals worldwide(Ackland\_et\_al\_2017), many of whom use a cane to help them get around. The most familiar type of cane, known as a "long cane", is used by visually impaired individuals with extremely restricted or no vision to help them find their way and avoid obstacles. However, a long cane can only detect obstacles below knee height and within approximately 1 m of the user. This makes it particularly challenging for visually impaired individuals 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. Our cane detects obstacles(e.g.,trees) at knee-to-head height and uniquely connects to a user's smartphone(Android/Apple) to provide audio-based navigation via integration with Google Maps.However, our existing audio-based navigation relying on GPS cannot be used indoors and does not provide sufficiently high spatial resolution with the level of confidence(integrity) required to help visually impaired individuals independently navigate indoor urban spaces such as transport hubs and shopping centres.Recent indoor navigation systems rely on detecting Bluetooth signals transmitted from "beacons" installed across an indoor space. Beacon signals are detected by smartphones and other Bluetooth-enabled devices and can be used to locate the user, warning them, for example, when they are approaching escalators, ticket barriers, and platforms. Such beacons have been trialled with Transport for London since 2015\. However, to date, they have not demonstrated adequate system performance(accuracy/reliability/usability) for use in a safety-critical application such as enabling a visually impaired user to navigate, avoiding hazards, around a tube station using beacon signals alone.Here, WeWALK in collaboration with Astra-Terra (a London-based SME specialising in intelligent transportation systems), the Centre for Transport Studies at Imperial College London, and the Royal National Institute for the Blind will address the technical/safety challenges that have prevented widespread uptake of beacons for indoor navigation. We will build on the existing installed base of beacons and the available open standard by developing a novel integrity-monitoring layer (providing safety-critical functionality) and usability framework, detecting the beacons signals directly with our smart cane to provide high-accuracy, turn-by-turn indoor audio-based navigation. 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.

全球估计有 2.5 亿视障人士（Ackland\_et\_al\_2017），其中许多人使用拐杖来帮助他们出行。最熟悉的手杖类型被称为“长手杖”，视力极其有限或没有视力的视障人士使用它来帮助他们找到道路并避开障碍物。然而，长手杖只能检测到膝盖以下高度且距用户约 1 m 范围内的障碍物。这使得视障人士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、自行车和行人距离很近的地方。为了应对这一挑战，WeWALK 开发了一种革命性的“智能”设备，可以拧到用户现有的手杖上。我们的手杖可检测到膝盖到头高度的障碍物（例如树木），并以独特的方式连接到用户的智能手机（Android/Apple），通过与 Google 地图集成提供基于音频的导航。但是，我们现有的依赖 GPS 的基于音频的导航无法在室内使用，并且无法提供足够高的空间分辨率和帮助视障人士在室内独立导航所需的置信度（完整性） 城市空间，如交通枢纽和购物中心。最近的室内导航系统依赖于检测从安装在室内空间的“信标”传输的蓝牙信号。信标信号由智能手机和其他支持蓝牙的设备检测到，可用于定位用户，并在用户接近自动扶梯、检票口和平台时发出警告。自 2015 年起，伦敦交通局就开始试用此类信标。然而，迄今为止，他们还没有证明足够的系统性能（准确性/可靠性/可用性）用于安全关键型应用，例如仅使用信标信号使视障用户能够在地铁站周围导航，避免危险。在这里，WeWALK 与 Astra-Terra（一家总部位于伦敦的中小企业，专门从事智能交通系统）、伦敦帝国理工学院交通研究中心和皇家国家盲人研究所合作，将解决这一问题 技术/安全挑战阻碍了室内导航信标的广泛采用。我们将在现有的信标安装基础和可用的开放标准的基础上，开发新颖的完整性监控层（提供安全关键功能）和可用性框架，直接使用我们的智能手杖检测信标信号，以提供高精度、逐向室内音频导航。该项目有潜力发挥至关重要的作用，确保越来越多的视障人士能够充分进入我们生活、工作和娱乐的城市空间。