Navigation for precise walking of blind people based on pulling illusion devices embedded in white canes

There have been various types of navigation systems for the visually impaired. Many of them were designed to help the visually impaired walk long distances between large landmarks, such as houses and stations. Moreover, short distance navigation is required for the visually impaired. For example, co...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in2022 IEEE 4th Global Conference on Life Sciences and Technologies (LifeTech) pp. 235 - 238
Main Authors Nunokawa, Kiyohiko, Tanabe, Takeshi, Takizawa, Hotaka, Doi, Kouki, Ino, Shuichi
Format Conference Proceeding
LanguageEnglish
Japanese
Published IEEE 07.03.2022
Subjects
Actuators
Asymmetric vibration
Blindness
Conferences
Legged locomotion
Life sciences
Navigation
Navigation of precise walking
Pulling illusion
Vibrations
Visually impaired people
white cane
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Summary:There have been various types of navigation systems for the visually impaired. Many of them were designed to help the visually impaired walk long distances between large landmarks, such as houses and stations. Moreover, short distance navigation is required for the visually impaired. For example, consider a situation where a visually impaired person moves from a table to a counter in a food court. First, he/she can move roughly, but, near the counter, he/she needs to walk carefully not to collide with or pass through the counter. To the best of our knowledge, such a precise navigation has not been focused on in the past. In this study, we proposed a navigation device for precise walking of the visually impaired. The system comprises a white cane and a small vibration actuator embedded in the grip of the white cane. The actuator can generate asymmetric vibrations, enabling the user to feel a pulling illusion. Using this mechanism, the device can notify the user about the directions to walk. In addition, the actuator is so small and light that the user can use the device with one hand, such as the conventional white cane. Besides, we conducted a user study where two sighted participants who wore eye masked and three visually impaired participants walked 10 m to reach a target destination in a corridor environment to evaluate the proposed device's effectiveness. Based on the results, the device can guide the user precisely.
DOI:10.1109/LifeTech53646.2022.9754872