Technological Trends in Improved Mobility of the Visually Impaired

Table of Contents

1. Frontmatter

2. Literature Reviews and Surveys

   1. Frontmatter

   2. Chapter 1. Smart Cities to Improve Mobility and Quality of Life of the Visually Impaired

      Drishty Sobnath, Ikram Ur Rehman, Moustafa M. Nasralla

      Abstract

      The rapid pace of innovation and advances in technological research has given hope to the visually impaired people (VIP) to find ways to move around smart cities and enjoy a better quality of life (QoL). There are around 110 million people suffering from visual impairments worldwide, and research will continue to be conducted to discover innovative solutions to improve their mobility. The rise in smartphones and wearable devices, along with the surge in the adoption of artificial intelligence (AI), the Internet of Things (IoT), and virtual and augmented reality (VR)/(AR), has provided aspirations for VIP to enjoy a better QoL. Moreover, smart cities also support the concept of sustainable economic growth and the well-being of their citizens; therefore, their development relies on strong ICT infrastructure. A number of studies have already tested the use of these technologies, showing optimistic results. The main sectors that could be improved to cater for VIP in smart cities are public areas, transportation systems and home systems. This chapter provides a comprehensive review and recommendations on how a smart city can provide better QoL for VIP in the near future.

   3. Chapter 2. A Survey on Accessible Context-Aware Systems

      Iyad Abu Doush, Issam Damaj, Mohammed Azmi Al-Betar, Mohammed A. Awadallah, Ra’ed M. Al-khatib, Alaa Eddin Alchalabi, Asaju L. Bolaji

      Abstract

      At the present time, 15% of the growing world population is estimated to have disabilities and special needs. Disabilities can seriously limit participation in regular life activities, such as controlling home facilities, using transportation services, joining social events, accessing educational contents, to name but a few. With the advancement in ubiquitous and pervasive computing, context-aware systems (CAS) are gaining much attention and demonstrating a stronger association with applications for people with disability. Modern CAS tend to minimize user interactions with the system and provide seamless services, automated awareness, and ambient intelligence and monitoring. CAS for people with disability can detect the surrounding environment, identify an appropriate user interface, interact, and service the user depending on the situation. Nevertheless, a large number of investigations on CAS for people with disability are presented in the literature, limited systems are practically available in the market. In this paper, we survey the literature to thoroughly analyze, evaluate, and critique state-of-the-art research in accessible CAS. Systems are classified according to the type of disability; besides, many interaction models are examined and strategies for making CAS accessible are identified. The investigation confirms the need for frameworks that enable improving security aspects, better exploiting modern hardware systems, performing reliable verification, and further supporting system customization and adaptation.

   4. Chapter 3. Smart Systems to Improve the Mobility of People with Visual Impairment Through IoM and IoMT

      Raluca Maria Aileni, George Suciu, Victor Suciu, Sever Pasca, Jean Ciurea

      Abstract

      This chapter presents several aspects regarding smart system to help people with low visual acuity, possibilities of integration into wearable systems or in common transport systems around the world, and integration with IoM (Internet of Mobility) and IoMT (Internet of Mobile Things). Also, in this work a few case studies are presented, which describe the use of assistive technology with interfaces based on vision, audio and tactile senses and smart systems integrated into wearable devices that can guide the people with visual impairment.

   5. Chapter 4. Comprehensive Literature Reviews on Ground Plane Checking for the Visually Impaired

      Aylwin Bing Chun Chai, Bee Theng Lau, Zheng Pan, Almon WeiYen Chai, Lil Deverell, Abdullah Al Mahmud, Christopher McCarthy, Denny Meyer

      Abstract

      According to the World Health Organization (WHO), there are an estimated 253 million people who live with vision impairment of which 36 million are legally blind. WHO also estimated that the number of people with vision impairment could triple within the next 30 years due to population growth and ageing. In order to improve the daily navigation and orientation, improved assistive technologies are required to ensure safer travel for visually impaired people. Over the years, there has been a considerable advancement in the creation of better assistive devices to support the daily activities of the visually impaired. However, from the findings, most of the existing assistive devices focus more on the obstacle detection in the surrounding rather than the ground plane hazards, which is also one of the dangerous hazards for the visually impaired. Thus, there were 30 papers being filtered out and reviewed to identify the existing research on the smart technologies in the past 10 years that support the visually impaired for their daily activities that involve both obstacle detection and ground plane hazards detection. This review aims to provide a better direction for future development based on an analysis of advantages, disadvantages, and limitations of the existing assistive technologies. Throughout the review, the general limitations of the existing research are the lack of user testing, user participation in the overall design, and the assumptions made about the environmental conditions.

   6. Chapter 5. Technologies and Systems to Improve Mobility of Visually Impaired People: A State of the Art

      Sara Paiva, Nishu Gupta

      Abstract

      The concept of mobility is an important aspect for citizens and, given the development of cities, is gaining more and more importance each day. Although it is possible to speak of mobility solutions for the general citizen, there are very specific characteristics such as visually impaired people, which require specific and different solutions. In this chapter, we review the literature regarding solutions and technologies that are being used to assist in the mobility of visually impaired people, both in indoor and outdoor environments, as well as in the detection of obstacles, which may occur in both types of environment. We present some recent research in these three main categories and also present a discussion and summary of main technologies, approaches, and equipment used.

3. Navigation Systems Proposals

   1. Frontmatter

   2. Chapter 6. Cloud Video Guidance as “Deus ex Machina” for the Visually Impaired

      Thanasis Loukopoulos, Maria Koziri, Natalia Panagou, Panos K. Papadopoulos, Dimitris K. Iakovidis

      Abstract

      Technological advances in Cloud computing and networking are offering unique opportunities for assisting everyday activities of visually impaired persons. Of particular interest is the capitalization of these technologies in the domain of aiding mobility and environment perception. In this chapter, we describe a generic system architecture design and discuss research and engineering issues toward developing a modular open Cloud platform that can be used in a customized way to match specific activities of visually impaired people. This platform facilitates remote content delivery to support system services, such as complex object/scene recognition and route planning, but also it enables the visually impaired users to connect with remotely located persons for assistance or social interaction. At the core of the proposed framework rests a sensor-based system that streams data, particularly video, for further processing in the Cloud. Although a multitude of applications are based on Cloud computing for data stream processing and data fusion, the particular requirements that must be met by assistive technologies for the visually impaired pose unique research challenges that are outlined in the chapter.

   3. Chapter 7. Virtual Vision Architecture for VIP in Ubiquitous Computing

      Soubraylu Sivakumar, Ratnavel Rajalakshmi, Kolla Bhanu Prakash, Baskaran Rajesh Kanna, Chinnasamy Karthikeyan

      Abstract

      Visually Impaired People (VIP) have to move in the highly dense society alone. In real world situation, they have to overcome more obstacles, hurdles and traffic while they navigate indoor and outdoor. Even more sophisticated technology cannot help those people for their convenience navigation and utility. The virtual vision architecture is composed of different subsystem. This architecture includes Head Obstacle Detection system, Tail Obstacle Detection system (TOD), Positioning and Location System, Alerting and Notification System, Information Management System (IMS) and Speech Recognizer Engine. IMS consists of Selenium web driver that is used to retrieve the latest information from various web servers. It is a newly proposed method to communicate with the existing web server. A TOD system is capable of monitoring the moving objects that comes behind the VIP. The proposed idea includes three methods for calculating the distance of the moving object. The speed is calculated from the distance. Based on the speed, the walking direction of the VIP is adjusted to avoid an accident.

   4. Chapter 8. Intelligent Vision Impaired Indoor Navigation Using Visible Light Communication

      Jayakody Arachchilage Don Chaminda Anuradha Jayakody, Iain Murray, Johannes Hermann, Shashika Lokuliyana, Vandhana Dunuwila

      Abstract

      Recent statistics of the World Health Organization (WHO) indicate that over 253 million of the world’s population to be visually impaired. Most of these individuals use the white cane as an assistive tool or are often accompanied by caretakers or voluntary helpers as indoor navigation is particularly challenging for them. This chapter describes a substitute vision system designed to assist vision impaired individuals through the use of visible light communication and geomagnetism. Furthermore, the use of database optimization increases the speed and efficiency of data retrieval thus reducing system response time. Though navigation systems that support the visual impaired are readily available, there have been no systems that use both visible light communication and geomagnetism capable of providing accurate and secure indoor navigation assistance, which in turn would increase the overall satisfaction of the system users.

   5. Chapter 9. AmIE: An Ambient Intelligent Environment for Blind and Visually Impaired People

      Marwa Kandil, Fatemah AlAttar, Reem Al-Baghdadi, Issam Damaj

      Abstract

      The Internet of things (IoT) is a revolutionary technology that is rapidly changing our world. IoT systems are becoming essential in modern life; traditional devices are becoming ubiquitous, connected, wireless, and smart. The aim of this investigation is to develop an IoT context-aware system that creates an Ambient Intelligence environment; in an apartment, house, or a building; to assist blind, visually-impaired, and elderly people. The main challenges that the system addresses include supporting assisted navigation, communication, security, and safe-living at an affordable cost. The proposed solution aims at providing effective indoor navigation, an easy-to-deploy system, a multilingual user-friendly interface and supports speech instructions. The proposed system is supported by sensors, communication nodes, control processors, wireless Internet access, a smart watch, to name but a few. The chapter includes studying the effectiveness of adding Bluetooth low energy devices at doors, stairs, walls, exit signs, service rooms, and more to enable accurate navigation. In addition, an investigation is included on the training needed by the users as related to the adoption of such a modern tool. System testing includes multiple navigation scenarios, accuracies, reliability of interactions, and the effectiveness of the multilingual features. System testing, analysis, and evaluation confirm the effectiveness of the developed system in application.

   6. Chapter 10. Digital Enhancement of Cultural Experience and Accessibility for the Visually Impaired

      Dimitris K. Iakovidis, Dimitrios Diamantis, George Dimas, Charis Ntakolia, Evaggelos Spyrou

      Abstract

      Visual impairment restricts everyday mobility and limits the accessibility of places, which for the non-visually impaired is taken for granted. A short walk to a close destination, such as a market or a school becomes an everyday challenge. In this chapter, we present a novel solution to this problem that can evolve into an everyday visual aid for people with limited sight or total blindness. The proposed solution is a digital system, wearable like smart-glasses, equipped with cameras. An intelligent system module, incorporating efficient deep learning and uncertainty-aware decision-making algorithms, interprets the video scenes, translates them into speech, and describes them to the user through audio. The user can almost naturally interact with the system via a speech-based user interface, which is also capable of understanding the user’s emotions. The capabilities of this system are investigated in the context of accessibility and guidance to outdoor environments of cultural interest, such as the historic triangle of Athens. A survey of relevant state-of-the-art systems, technologies and services is performed, identifying critical system components that better adapt to the goals of the system, user needs and requirements, toward a user-centered architecture design.

4. Case Studies and Applications

   1. Frontmatter

   2. Chapter 11. Toward Sustainable Domestication of Smart IoT Mobility Solutions for the Visually Impaired Persons in Africa

      Abdulazeez Femi Salami, Eustace M. Dogo, Nnamdi I. Nwulu, Babu Sena Paul

      Abstract

      According to World Health Organization (WHO) estimates, Africa accounts for 10% of the global visually impaired persons (VIPs). This visual impairment burden is exacerbated by the shortage of specialist medical human resources, orientation and mobility specialists, and high cost of assessing primary eye care services. These render the majority of VIPs to rely heavily on human-assisted guides and ineffective navigation aids for their daily routines and movements. A viable technological solution that can fill this void and meet these mobility needs is the Internet of Things (IoT). This chapter provides an assessment of smart IoT mobility solutions pertinent to the African context. Furthermore, the barriers to the realization of technology domestication as well as growth catalysts are examined. Lastly, this chapter proffers technical recommendations for sustainable domestication of smart IoT mobility solutions for VIPs in Africa.

   3. Chapter 12. Large-Scale Interactive Environments for Mobility Training and Experience Sharing of Blind Children

      Marcella Mandanici, Antonio Rodà

      Abstract

      This book chapter provides a framework for the design and implementation of large-scale interactive environments for orientation and mobility training of blind children. Large-scale interactive environments are physical spaces under the range of a camera hanging from the ceiling and linked to a computer vision system that provides the tracking of a person inside the active area. This allows the coupling of the blind child’s position to the audio output, which can change depending on the child’s movements. Relying on such features, we present “Following the Cuckoo Sound”, an application designed to train children to avoid veering. Previous assessment results show a general decrease of veering from pre- to post-test. Here the same results are analyzed and discussed in the light of four indicators of children’s behavior. Finally, a more advanced interactive soundscape navigation system is proposed as an efficient tool to improve sensory integration of blind children.

   4. Chapter 13. HapAR: Handy Intelligent Multimodal Haptic and Audio-Based Mobile AR Navigation for the Visually Impaired

      Ahmad Hoirul Basori

      Abstract

      Visually impaired people have suffered greatly on finding the right direction toward their destination. This paper initiates an innovative and low-cost solution by providing mobile Augmented Reality (HapAR) that is capable to stimulate haptic and audio sensation for guiding them inside the campus. The direction is generated using the geo-location of the building and current position of the user. The initial testing was conducted inside the campus and successfully gives a promising result. They found the system was easy to use by pointing out the mobile devices and they can feel the vibration when the user is out of track and hear the voice assistant to correct their track.

   5. Chapter 14. A Context-Aware Voice Operated Mobile Guidance System for Visually Impaired Persons

      Kavi Kumar Khedo, Kishan Yashveer Bhugul, David Young Ten

      Abstract

      The most important travelling aid for the visually impaired person is still the white cane which is multifunctional, cheap and reliable. In studies about visually impaired person navigation, it has been noted that even a small amount of extra information about the environment has a remarkable positive impact for those persons. In this chapter, a mobile application named Mobile Vision is described. The Mobile Vision application, developed at the University of Mauritius, is an innovative android application that is used to augment a visually impaired person’s pedestrian experience with enough information so as to ease his movement from one location to another. Innovative interaction mechanisms have been developed in Mobile Vision to allow visually impaired persons to use the mobile phone. Using pre-loaded maps on the mobile device, environmental conditions and landmark information along their route are provided on the fly through simple explanatory voice cues. The application can advise the user where he/she is currently located and provide spoken directions to travel to a particular destination.

   6. Chapter 15. Modelling the Creation of Verbal Indoor Route Descriptions for Visually Impaired Travellers

      Johannes Tröger, Sarah Schnebelt, Jan Alexandersson

      Abstract

      Within the field of computer-supported indoor navigation for visually impaired people, the generation of effective verbal route descriptions and directions to be given to the visually impaired person remains challenging. This paper provides a formal and innovative model for the creation of indoor verbal route descriptions (VRDs) with the iterative methodologies from user-centred design, focused on those with visual impairment (VI), and emphasising sufficient evaluation. As one step towards fully automated generation of verbal directions, four sighted persons were tasked with generating VRDs for two routes at Saarbrücken University. The generated VRDs were evaluated with feedback by 11 VIs. This was used to improve the VRDs which were evaluated again by 3 VIs, with the set of 7 directions having the overall result rated as medium. Implications and main pitfalls of the current model are discussed.

   7. Chapter 16. An Aid System for Autonomous Mobility of Visually Impaired People on the Historical City Walls in Lucca, Italy

      Massimiliano Donati, Fabrizio Iacopetti, Alessio Celli, Roberto Roncella, Luca Fanucci

      Abstract

      The research project “The Walls for All” (in Italian “Le Mura per Tutti”) aims at the realization of an aid system for visually impaired people, promoting autonomous mobility in a free time/cultural outdoor scenario. The selected installation site is a 4 km pedestrian and bike wide lane on top of the historical walls of Lucca city, Tuscany, Italy. The proposed system guides the user on predefined tracks (virtual path), realized by means of buried cables, that can be detected with the help of the Smart Cane, a traditional white cane equipped with custom electronics; and a mobile device featuring an ad-hoc developed Android application that provides geo-referenced guidance and context information. The system has been conceived, designed and successfully tested by visually impaired people of the Italian Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired—Section of Lucca.

5. Backmatter