Assistive micro-navigation for vision impaired people

该项目旨在开发一种新颖的算法，将简单的相机转换为智能传感器，使视力受损的人能够在拥挤的区域自由导航，而无需额外的帮助。这种智能传感器将被赋予探测和定位障碍物、识别行走路径、识别物体和交通标志的能力，并向用户传达分步指令。预计项目成果将改善视力受损人群的福祉和公共区域的可达性，并减少这一弱势群体的实际出入差距。此外，该项目开发的技术可能适用于相关的特殊导航应用，如道路安全、自动驾驶汽车和自主机器人。

This project aims to develop novel algorithms to transform a simple camera into a smart sensor, that can enable a vision-impaired person to navigate freely and without additional aids in a crowded area. Such a smart sensor will be endowed with the capability to detect and locate obstacles, identify the walking path, recognise objects and traffic signs and convey step-by-step instructions to the user. The project outcomes are expected to improve the well-being and accessibility to public areas for vision-impaired people and reduce physical access disparities for this disadvantaged and vulnerable group. Furthermore, technologies developed in this project can potentially be adapted for use in related special navigation applications such as road safety, self-driving vehicles, and autonomous robots.