Development of a Digital Sign System for Indoor Wayfinding by the Visually Impair

描述(申请人提供)：对于视障人士来说，在学校或办公楼等不熟悉的复杂室内空间中认路是一件具有挑战性的事情。GPS技术已经被用于室外环境中基于语音的导航，以帮助视力受损的人找路，但还没有类似的技术用于室内找路。有视力的行人有时会发现室内认路具有挑战性，但他们通常可以在指示牌的帮助下认路。无法方便地接近指示牌仍然是视力障碍者在室内寻找道路的主要障碍。明尼苏达大学低视力研究实验室的一个团队首先证明了“数字标志系统”(DSS)的可行性，以支持视障人士的室内导航。在第一阶段，该团队与AME公司合作开发了DSS系统的评估原型，并通过人体性能测试演示了其在非视觉室内导航中的用途。DSS系统由一个发射红外线光束的手持设备组成。用户摇摄光束，直到返回来自回射条形码标志的反射。计算机软件“读取”该标志的图像，并将其识别代码输入到建筑数据库中。然后，从数据库中检索包括标志的内容及其位置的信息，并通过合成语音提供给用户。已经开发并验证了所有系统组件的可行性原型。这一第二阶段项目的目标是开发一种用于人体测试的生产原型。工程工作将包括设计改进的光学组件，以及开发在原型的数字信号处理上实时运行的数字标签定位软件。这一生产原型将用于评估视障行人通过DSS和具有基于语音的用户界面的空间数据库--建筑导航器--进行的室内寻路的效果。这些生产原型在商业上是可行的。公共卫生相关性：独立行动能力是充分参与现代社会的重要先决条件。行动能力下降和相关的社会孤立是视力丧失最令人衰弱的后果之一。数字标志系统是一项重要的新技术，可以帮助视力丧失的人寻找方向，因为实施它的设施所需的成本很低。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): It is challenging for visually-impaired people to find their way in unfamiliar, complex indoor spaces such as schools or office buildings. GPS technology has already been exploited for speech-based navigation for visually-impaired wayfinding in outdoor environments, but there is no equivalent technology for indoor wayfinding. Sighted pedestrians may sometimes find indoor wayfinding challenging, but they can usually find their way with the help of signage. The inability to easily access signage continues to be a major impediment to indoor wayfinding for people with visual disabilities. A team at the University of Minnesota Laboratory for Low-Vision Research, first demonstrated the feasibility of a "Digital Sign System" (DSS) to support indoor navigation for visually impaired people. In Phase I, this team worked in partnership with AME Corp. to develop evaluation prototype of the DSS system, and demonstrated its use for non-visual indoor navigation with human performance tests. The DSS system consists of a hand-held device that emits an infrared beam. The user pans the beam until a reflection from a retroreflective bar-coded sign is returned. Computer software "reads" the sign's image and feeds its identification code to a building database. Information, including the content of the sign and its position, is then retrieved from the database and provided to the user via synthetic speech. Feasibility prototypes of all system components have been developed and validated. The goal of this phase II project is to develop a production prototype for human testing. The engineering work will include designing an improved optical assembly and developing digital tag localization software that runs on a digital signal process in real time in the prototype. This production prototype will be used to evaluate the efficacy of indoor wayfinding by visually impaired pedestrians via DSS and a spatial database with speech-based user interface called the Building Navigator. These production prototypes will be commercially viable. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: Independent mobility is an important prerequisite for full participation in modern society. Reduced mobility and associated social isolation are among the most debilitating consequences of vision loss. The Digital Sign System is a significant new technology to assist wayfinding for people with vision loss because of the low cost required for a facility to implement it.