360 degree imaging for navigation assistance for the visually impaired

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

360 degree imaging technology has been associated primarily with video acquisition for direct playback, as integrated, for example, in virtual and augmented reality applications, sports, and entertainment. However, there has not been significant use of this technology to help users accomplish tasks in which they derive a quality-of-life improvement. To this end, Immervision wishes to apply its products to "autonomous pedestrian" navigation, much as autonomous vehicles already benefit from a range of sensing systems. Specifically, the company intends to demonstrate the benefits of its 360 degree hardware to provide navigation assistance for the visually impaired community, where its unique systems may offer a critical advantage over other imaging devices, in particular, conventional smartphone cameras. This project is motivated by Immervision's desire to contribute to the Technology for Good movement. In this respect, the visually impaired community faces significant challenges to navigation in the everyday world. White canes and guide dogs are essential navigation aids, but information technology is also playing an increasingly valuable role in supporting general navigation needs, offering descriptions of the user's environment based on static databases, and identifying potential obstacles in the user's path. Prototype technologies have also been developed to provide anti-veering feedback during intersection crossing. However, despite these recent tremendous advances in assistive technologies, solutions both for a stand-alone system requiring only commodity hardware that helps users safely cross at intersections, and guidance the last few meters of the way to the user's target, e.g., a doorway entrance, remain elusive. This project aims to demonstrate the feasibility of solutions to both these problems, taking advantage of the benefits of the wide field of view and stable imagery available from Immervision's 360 degree imaging devices built into easily wearable, unobtrusive glasses.