Leveraging Maps and Computer Vision to Support Indoor Navigation for Blind Travelers

利用地图和计算机视觉为室内提供支持 盲人旅行者的导航 摘要 该项目的目标是开发一款基于智能手机的寻路应用程序，旨在帮助 有视觉障碍的人更容易和独立地在室内环境中导航。它 利用计算机视觉和智能手机传感器来估计和跟踪用户在 相对于室内环境地图的实时，提供基于音频的逐个转弯 引导用户到达所需目的地的方向。另一种选择是提供音频或 触觉提醒附近环境中兴趣点的存在，如出口， 电梯、洗手间和会议室。应用程序通过识别用户的位置来估计用户的位置 环境中存在的标准信息标志，跟踪用户的轨迹和 将其与数字地图相关联，该数字地图已使用有关标志和地标的信息进行注释。 与其他室内寻路方法相比，我们的计算机视觉和传感器 该方法的优势在于既不需要安装物理基础设施，也不需要 维护(如iBeacons)或精确的先前校准(如空间参考 基于Wi-Fi的系统所需的射频签名获取过程)，它们是 可能会阻碍广泛采用的代价高昂的措施。我们建议的系统具有 有可能极大地扩大安全、独立导航室内空间的机会 有视力障碍的人。在授权期接近尾声时，寻路软件 (包括文档)将作为自由和开放源码软件(FOSS)发布。

Leveraging Maps and Computer Vision to Support Indoor Navigation for Blind Travelers Summary The goal of this project is to develop a smartphone-based wayfinding app designed to help people with visual impairments navigate indoor environments more easily and independently. It harnesses computer vision and smartphone sensors to estimate and track the user’s location in real time relative to a map of the indoor environment, providing audio-based turn-by-turn directions to guide the user to a desired destination. An additional option is to provide audio or tactile alerts to the presence of nearby points of interest in the environment, such as exits, elevators, restrooms and meeting rooms. The app estimates the user’s location by recognizing standard informational signs present in the environment, tracking the user’s trajectory and relating it to a digital map that has been annotated with information about signs and landmarks. Compared with other indoor wayfinding approaches, our computer vision and sensor-based approach has the advantage of requiring neither physical infrastructure to be installed and maintained (such as iBeacons) nor precise prior calibration (such as the spatially referenced radiofrequency signature acquisition process required for Wi-Fi-based systems), which are costly measures that are likely to impede widespread adoption. Our proposed system has the potential to greatly expand opportunities for safe, independent navigation of indoor spaces for people with visual impairments. Towards the end of the grant period, the wayfinding software (including documentation) will be released as free and open source software (FOSS).