Walkable area and pavement anomaly segmentation for MSVI-supervised autonomous pedestrian navigation

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被评为Innovate 2021/22年度青年创新者。可以把它想象成一只帮助视障用户导航的导盲犬。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！然而，为了使我们的产品更有效，一个新的研发项目需要考虑如何改善Theia帮助用户了解他们周围环境的方式，同时自动引导。为了帮助我们做到这一点，我们将与Vista Blind合作，这是一家总部位于莱斯特的慈善机构，为视力障碍者提供支持。Vista Blind将支持用户主导的针对视障用户的设计研讨会，以围绕用户体验塑造我们的解决方案。在该项目结束时，我们将拥有一个测试过的原型，准备帮助视障人士过上更安全的生活。

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, was named as Innovate's Young Innovator of 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! However, to make our product more effective a new R&D project is required to look at how to improve the way Theia helps users understand their immediate environment whilst being guided autonomously.To help us get this right, we will be working with Vista Blind, a Leicester-based charity supporting those with visual impairments. Vista Blind will support user-led design workshops with visually impaired users to shape our solution around user experience.At the end of this project, we will have a tested prototype that is ready to help visually impaired people live safer lives.