A Precision Navigation System for People with a Visual Impairment

专为视力障碍人士设计的精准导航系统

• 批准号: 9126559
• 负责人: David A. Ross
• 金额: $ 24.8万
• 依托单位: ATLANTA RESEARCH & EDUCATION FDN, INC.
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 财政年份: 2015
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2015-09-01 至 2018-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9126559
• 关键词: Address; Algorithms; Attention; Biomechanics; Blindness; Body measure procedure; Canes; Cellular Phone; Communities; Computer software; Crowding; Data; Data Sources; Databases; Destinations; Development; Drops; Educational process of instructing; Electronic Mail; Elements; Environment; Evaluation; Eye diseases; Fright; Gait; Goals; Health; Hip region structure; Human; Improve Access; Information Systems; Knowledge; Literature; Locales; Location; Maps; Mediation; Mission; Modeling; Motion; Movement; Names; Navigation System; Neighborhoods; Outcome; Pathway interactions; Pattern; Persons; Population; Population Characteristics; Positioning Attribute; Public Health; Quality of life; Rehabilitation therapy; Research; Research Design; Research Support; Resolution; Resources; Route; Side; Solid; Somatotype; Source; Statistical Methods; Structure; Students; System; Technology; Testing; Time; Touch sensation; Travel; United States National Institutes of Health; Vision Disorders; Visual impairment; Walking; Work; Workplace; base; blind; crowdsourcing; digital; disability; foot; improved; innovation; instructor; kinematics; meter; new technology; primary outcome; programs; prototype; sensor; sight for the blind; tool; trafficking

 DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The purpose of this proposal is to develop a precision navigation system for people with visual impairment. There is a technological gap between what can now be provided and what is needed. What is needed is "cane-touch" precision. The person needs to be guided close enough to specific locations to find it with a cane. Existing navigation systems employing the Global Positioning System (GPS) can only provide the name of the intersection being approached. The proposed research design is constructed around the hypothesis that the goal of precision guidance can be achieved by merging two types of navigation systems: (1) GPS and (2) Inertial Navigation. Inertial navigation uses sensors now contained in smart phones to track a person's location as s/he is walking toward a destination. Given the location of a destination, it can precisely guide the user there. But it is a short-range solution that loses precision past distances of 50 to 100 meters. GPS often has an "offset bias" error. In a particular locale it may be off by 10 meters to the north of the actual location. This offset bias may be stable for several blocks, and then shift over a fairly short walking distance. The working hypothesis is that cane-touch precision can be achieved by fusing inertial navigation data with GPS data using a data fusion algorithm. Such an algorithm uses statistical methods to merge from two sources to provide more accurate and reliable information than can be obtained from data source separately. There is also an information gap. Research has shown that current inertial navigation systems do not work well for persons with a visual impairment. The reason is that people walking with a cane have an atypical walking style that makes it difficult to track their footsteps. People with a visual impairment tend to walk in a tentative fashion, making sure there is solid ground beneath their foot before placing it down. Various types of body motion characteristic of this population have been shown to be indicative of a footstep. To this end, a motion analysis study for persons with visual impairment is proposed. The hypothesis is that data from this study will provide what is needed to track the movement of their feet, and thus the person's movement. Also needed is map information providing the exact location of accessible walking paths and crosswalks, etc. We will develop a crowd-source paradigm to populate a public database with such map data. The resultant navigation app will be implemented as an application (app) for a smart phone and evaluated by subjects who are visually impaired. The expected outcome is an app for smart phones that provides precision (cane-touch) navigational guidance to persons with visual impairment. This will be invaluable, providing them the ability to independently and safely navigate outdoor environments and find important environmental elements such as pedestrian push buttons, which are never in a standard location. It will also enhance the gait literature for this population.

 描述（由应用程序提供）：本提案的目的是为视觉障碍者开发精确导航系统。现在可以提供的内容与需要的内容之间存在技术差距。需要的是“拐杖”精度。该人需要被足够靠近特定位置的引导，以便用拐杖找到它。采用全球定位系统（GPS）的现有导航系统只能提供围绕提议的研究设计，围绕以下假设：精确指导的目标可以通过合并两种类型的导航系统来实现：（1）GPS和（2）惯性导航。惯性导航使用现在智能手机中包含的传感器来跟踪一个人的位置，因为他/他正走向目的地。鉴于目的地的位置，它可以准确地指导用户 那里。但这是一个短距离解决方案，它失去了过去50至100米的精确距离。 GPS通常具有“偏置偏差”错误。在特定的地方，它可能在实际位置北部10米处偏离。这种偏移的偏见可能在几个街区可能是稳定的，然后在步行距离很短的距离上移动。工作假设是，可以使用数据融合算法将惯性导航数据与GPS数据融合来实现拐杖 - 触摸精度。这种算法使用统计方法从两个来源合并，以提供比分别从数据源获得的更准确和可靠的信息。还有一个信息差距。研究表明，当前的惯性导航系统对于视觉障碍的人来说不能很好地工作。原因是搭配拐杖行走的人具有非典型的步行风格，这使得很难追踪他们的脚步。视力障碍的人倾向于以暂定的方式行走，确保将脚下的坚实地面放在下面。各种类型的身体运动表征已被证明表明了脚步。为此，提出了针对视觉障碍者的运动分析研究。假设是，来自这项研究的数据将提供跟踪脚步运动以及从中的运动所需的内容。还需要的是地图信息，提供可访问的步行路径和人行横道等的确切位置。我们将开发一个众包范式的范式，以填充使用此类地图数据的公共数据库。所得的导航应用程序将作为智能手机的应用程序（应用程序）实现，并由视力障碍的受试者进行评估。预期的结果是用于智能手机的应用程序，可为视觉障碍者提供精度（甘蔗）导航指导。这将是无价的，使他们能够独立，安全地导航户外环境，并找到重要的环境元素，例如行人推动按钮，这些元素永远不会位于标准位置。它还将增强收集文献 这个人口。