Roboglasses® electronic travel aid with hands free obstacle avoidance for blind and vision impaired users

项目摘要-福克斯创新有限责任公司 该项目的目标是评估一种名为 RoboGlass®(通过NSF SBIR赠款开发)可减少头部和上半身损伤 目前使用拐杖和/或导盲犬活动的盲人。拐杖和狗只提供 有关地面障碍物和现有ETA的信息具有侵入性，传递的信息有限 内容，而且需要一个陡峭的学习曲线才能掌握。我们的RoboGlass®解决方案提供了一种新的方法 障碍物检测/避障旨在解决这些缺点并提高安全性和效率 为盲人用户提供自助游。我们的方法使用一种简单的免提解决方案，它提供了一种新的 触觉沟通渠道，以直观、无声、无声的方式向用户传达环境信息 易于使用的方式。机器人眼镜®ETA，戴起来就像一副太阳镜，解放了双手，让狗可以使用， 握住拐杖或其他物体；它提供有关位置、距离和方向的详细信息 使用不显眼的触觉界面的障碍，其中学习是自然和直观的，而不是需要认知 努力和长期的训练。因为触觉信息的感知和传递是耦合到头部的，而不是 与其他ETA的情况相比，它提供了更好的距离/方向的感知耦合 提示和更多与用户移动方向相关的自然信息。这个项目计划建造 四款高级型号的RoboGlass®ETA，并对20名完全失明的成年人进行了深入的人体试验 为了确定新的ETA是否显著改善了对这些使用者头部和上半身受伤的保护 在航行过程中。其他实验将改进界面参数和可用性特征，以 确保系统针对盲人用户进行了优化，并将他们的意见包括在设计过程中。采用这一点 以人为中心的迭代设计方法在ETA开发中很少见，但确保最终产品是 有可能被目标人群接受和采用。这些实验试验结合了基于实验室的 基于精心规划的测试环境的经验程序和定性用户反馈。这个 环境中使用的障碍物模仿现实生活中的危险，经常导致上半身和头部受伤 盲人。将进行一系列初步测试，以优化界面可用性并确保 坚持良好的人性化设计。ETA传感器数据、视频记录和行为表现 将对时间和误差测量以及调查响应进行分析和关联，以改进设备设计 并发布结果，以促进埃塔科学的发展。研究小组的两名成员是盲人：布兰登 福克斯的总裁福希和定向和移动技术专家尼古拉斯·朱迪斯博士 辅助技术设计。这种第一手的现象学在大多数研究和开发中都是缺乏的 辅助技术的努力，但对于确定用户需求和了解什么是有效的至关重要 在ETA中不起作用，这种洞察力将指导系统设计和评估的方方面面。

Project Summary – Fauxsee Innovations, LLC The objective of this project is to assess the efficacy and usability of an electronic travel aid (ETA) called Roboglasses® (developed through an NSF SBIR grant) in reducing head and upper body injuries sustained by blind people who currently use a cane and/or guide dog for mobility. Canes and dogs only provide information about ground-level obstructions and existing ETAs are intrusive, convey limited information content, and require a steep learning curve to master. Our Roboglasses® solution provides a new approach to obstacle detection/ avoidance designed to address these shortcomings and improve the safety and efficiency of independent travel for blind users. Our approach uses a simple, hands-free solution that provides a new channel of haptic communication to convey environmental information to the user in an intuitive, silent, and easy-to-use manner. The Roboglasses® ETA, worn like a pair of sunglasses, frees the hands to use the dog, hold a cane or other object; it delivers detailed information about the location, distance and direction of obstacles using an unobtrusive haptic interface where learning is natural and intuitive, vs. requiring cognitive effort and prolonged training. As the sensing and delivery of haptic information is coupled to the head rather than the hand as is the case with other ETAs, it provides better perceptual coupling with distance/directional cues and more natural information related to the user's direction of movement. This project proposes to build four advanced models of the Roboglasses® ETA and conduct in-depth human trials with 20 totally blind adults to determine if the new ETA significantly improves protection of these users from head and upper body injuries during navigation. Additional experiments will refine interface parameters and usability characteristics to ensure the system is optimized for blind users and includes their input in the design process. Adopting this human-centered, iterative design approach is rare in ETA development but ensures that the end product is likely to be accepted and adopted by the target demographic. The experimental trials combine lab-based empirical procedures and qualitative user feedback based on meticulously planned testing environments. The environments use obstacles that mimic real-life hazards that frequently cause upper body and head injuries to blind people. An initial sequence of tests will be conducted to optimize interface usability and ensure adherence to good human factors design. ETA sensor data, video recording and behavioral performance on temporal and error measures, and survey responses will be analyzed and correlated to improve device design and for publication of results to advance ETA science. Two members of the research team are blind: Brandon Foshee, Fauxsee's president, and Dr. Nicholas Giudice, an expert in Orientation and Mobility techniques and assistive technology design. This first-hand phenomenology is lacking in most research and development efforts of assistive technologies but is critical for establishing user needs and for understanding what works and doesn't work in an ETA, insight that will guide all aspects of system design and evaluation.