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

MSVI 监督的自主行人导航的步行区域和路面异常分割

• 批准号: 10034410
• 金额: $ 39.23万
• 依托单位: THEIA GUIDANCE SYSTEMS LIMITED
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Collaborative R&D
• 财政年份: 2022
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2022 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=10034410
• 关键词: Walkable; area; pavement; anomaly; segmentation

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.

Theia 是一款专为视力障碍人士设计的定向和移动设备。 BBC Science Focus 杂志将其评为塑造未来的第一大发明（2020 年）。 Theia 的发明者 Anthony Camu 被评为 Innovate 2021/22 年度青年创新者\。将其视为帮助视障用户导航的导盲犬。我们正在申请专利的设备扫描地面并生成用户环境的 3D 地图。然后，它使用力量来引导用户的手 - 类似于导盲犬拉动皮带。我们已经开发了产品原型，并在 Alpha 和 Beta 阶段与用户进行了广泛的测试。它能够成功支持 VI 人识别障碍物并安全导航。这对于英国 35 万盲人和弱视人士以及全球约 3 亿人来说可能是个好消息。在英国，95% 的盲人和弱视人士在三个月内曾与附近的障碍物相撞，其中三分之一受伤（RNIB，2017）。最有效的支持是导盲犬，但也有还不够。每 72 名符合资格的 VI 人士中，只有 1 人会收到导盲犬，因此很大一部分 VI 需要其他支持和指导。这就是 Theia 可以提供帮助的地方！然而，为了使我们的产品更加有效，需要一个新的研发项目来研究如何改进 Theia 帮助用户在自主引导的同时了解其周围环境的方式。为了帮助我们实现这一目标，我们将与 Vista Blind 合作，莱斯特的慈善机构为视力障碍人士提供支持。 Vista Blind 将支持由视障用户举办的用户主导的设计研讨会，围绕用户体验塑造我们的解决方案。在该项目结束时，我们将拥有一个经过测试的原型，可以帮助视障人士过上更安全的生活。