Feel-Beyond-Fingers device for the Blind

描述（由申请人提供）：该研发项目将为盲人提供一种微型的，不显眼的设备，以感知他们的手前面-既作为一个短距离传感器，用于在日常生活中寻找附近的小物体，也作为一个长距离传感设备，用于增强移动性。该设备将是最有用的新的或完全失明的个人，特别是在陌生的，危险的，或不卫生的环境。基于创新的红外距离传感技术，拟议的Feel-Beyond-Fingers设备具有几个显着的优势，使其成为盲人用户解决方案中的独特之处。第一阶段项目开始于分包商亚利桑那盲人和视力障碍中心（ACBVI）的焦点小组活动。在详细的封装和电子设计之后，制造并测试了概念验证设备。视力受损的参与者在ACBVI的模拟日常场景中使用该设备。参与者对该设备表现出高度的热情。在第二阶段，完成SBIR项目将产生一种设备，其有效性已由用户在日常生活中进行了评估，时间较长。商业化将产生一种价格有吸引力的产品，使人们能够更多地参与更广泛的社会、职业和教育活动。所提出的Feel Beyond Fingers（FBF）设备提供了一种重要的功能，该功能对盲人和视力受损人群的很大一部分感兴趣，目前约有300万人。拟议中的设备将是最感兴趣的完全失明，谁缺乏最直观的线索，对直接的环境。与之前的数据一致，第一阶段的用户评估发现，这些用户在定位小型和大型物体、在社交场合走动以及避免无意中接触环境中的物体方面面临着重大问题。生产设备的低成本也将使该技术比成本较高的物体探测和测距技术更广泛地为人们所用。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This R&D project will provide a miniature, inconspicuous device for blind individuals to sense what is in front of their hand - both as a short-range sensor for finding small, nearby objects in daily living, as well as a longer-range sensing device for mobility enhancement. The device will be most useful for newly or completely blind individuals, especially in unfamiliar, hazardous, or unsanitary environments. Based on an innovative infrared distance-sensing technology, the proposed Feel-Beyond-Fingers device has several significant advantages that make it unique among solutions for blind users. The Phase l project began with a Focus Group activity at subcontractor Arizona Center for the Blind and Visually Impaired (ACBVI). A proof of concept device was fabricated and tested after detailed packaging and electronics design. Visually impaired participants used the device in simulated everyday scenarios at ACBVI. The participants showed a high level of enthusiasm for the device. In Phase II, the completed SBIR project will result in a device whose effectiveness has been evaluated by users in everyday life, over an extended period of time. Commercialization will produce an attractively priced product that will enable enhanced participation in a wider range of social, vocational, and educational activities. The proposed Feel Beyond Fingers (FBF) device provides an important function that is of interest to a significant portion of the blind and visually impaired population, which currently numbers about 3 million individuals. The proposed device would be of greatest interest to the totally blind, who lack most visual cues about the immediate environment. This is estimated to be about 200,000 people in the U.S. In agreement with previous data, the Phase I user evaluations found that these users face significant issues in locating small and large objects, getting around in social situations, and avoiding inadvertent contact with objects in the environment. The low cost of the production device will also make the technology accessible to a much wider range of people than higher-cost object detection and range-finding technologies.