Vision Without Sight: Exploring the Environment with a Portable Camera

描述（由申请人提供）：随着计算机视觉对象识别算法在准确性和速度方面的改进，并且计算机变得更加强大和紧凑，在诸如相机使能的蜂窝电话的便携式设备上实现这样的算法变得越来越实际。这种“移动的视觉”方法允许视力正常的用户识别环境中的物体、标志、地点和其他特征，只需拍摄照片并等待几秒钟等待物体识别分析的结果。这种方法为盲人或视力受损（VI）用户带来了巨大的希望，他们可能没有其他方法来识别非视觉线索无法检测到的重要特征。然而，为了使该方法对VI用户实用，必须适当地促进用户与使用相机的环境之间的交互。例如，由于用户可能事先不知道将相机指向期望目标的哪个方向，因此他或她必须能够左右平移相机以搜索该目标，并且每当检测到该目标时接收快速反馈。借鉴过去的PI和他的合作者对VI用户的对象识别系统的经验，我们建议研究使用移动的视觉技术，探索环境中的功能，具体检查发现这些功能的过程中，并获得对他们的指导。我们的主要目标是调查这些技术的用户所采用的策略，以加快探索过程，设计和测试最有效的用户界面与这些策略相一致，并评估和基准的技术的效率。其结果将是一组最低设计标准，将指定系统性能参数，用户界面功能和操作策略所需的任何移动的视觉对象识别系统的VI用户。 公共卫生相关性：有视力的人每天都认为，在环境中定位和识别物体、地点和其他特征的能力是理所当然的，但在大约1000万有严重视力障碍的美国人和100万法定盲人中，这种基本能力缺失或严重退化。拟议的研究将调查如何修改和利用计算机视觉物体识别技术，以满足盲人和视力受损者的特殊需求。计算机视觉物体识别技术目前正在手机等移动的视觉设备上实施，但通常是为视力正常的用户设计的。这样的研究可能会导致新技术的出现，大大提高这一人群的独立性。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): As computer vision object recognition algorithms improve in accuracy and speed, and computers become more powerful and compact, it is becoming increasingly practical to implement such algorithms on portable devices such as camera-enabled cell phones. This "mobile vision" approach allows normally sighted users to identify objects, signs, places and other features in the environment simply by snapping a photo and waiting a few seconds for the results of the object recognition analysis. The approach holds great promise for blind or visually impaired (VI) users, who may have no other means of identifying important features that are undetectable by non-visual cues. However, in order for the approach to be practical for VI users, the interaction between the user and the environment using the camera must be properly facilitated. For instance, since the user may not know in advance which direction to point the camera towards a desired target, he or she must be able to pan the camera left and right to search for it, and receive rapid feedback whenever it is detected. Drawing on past experience of the PI and his collaborators on object recognition systems for VI users, we propose to study the use of mobile vision technologies for exploring features in the environment, specific examining the process of discovering these features and obtaining guidance towards them. Our main objectives are to investigate the strategies adopted by users of these technologies to expedite the exploration process, devise and test maximally effective user interfaces consistent with these strategies, and to assess and benchmark the efficiency of the technologies. The result will be a set of minimum design standards that will specify the system performance parameters, the user interface functionality and the operational strategies necessary for any mobile vision object recognition system for VI users. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: The ability to locate and identify objects, places and other features in the environment is taken for granted every day by the sighted, but this fundamental capability is missing or severely degraded in the approximately 10 million Americans with significant vision impairments and a million who are legally blind. The proposed research would investigate how computer vision object recognition technologies, which are now being implemented on mobile vision devices such as cell phones but are typically designed for normally sighted users, could be modified and harnessed to meet the special needs of blind and visually impaired persons. Such research could lead to new technologies to dramatically improve independence for this population