Wearable Devices for Increasing the Quality of Life for the Visually Impaired

1. Wearable Devices for Increasing the Quality of Life for the Visually Impaired SIBHI/UnCoRe 2007 Contributors: Brilleasha Moore, Charles Bardel, Darrin M. Hanna, PhD; Clint METHODS • Related Works What others have created in wearable devices [Add description of key point.] • Clint’s feedback Clint’s feedback was mainly a description of the problems he was having in everyday Prototype Construction Obstacle device • Components • Schematic Sensor Data and Output ABSTRACT TITLE: Wearable Devices for Increasing the Quality of Life for the Visually Impaired BACKGROUND: There are approximately 14 million visually impaired people in the United States of those 109,000 use long canes to get around andjust over 7,000 Americans use guide dogs.For most it is inconvenient to use the traditional solutions to navigate their environment. OBJECTIVE: The goal of this work is to significantly increase the quality of life for a visually impaired subject. The results of the effusiveness of the device are measured by giving a quality of life survey before and after using the device. METHODS:In order to create this device certain methodswas usedsuch as related works and Clint’s feedback. PROTOTYPE CONSTRUCTION: Consist of the components and schematic which was used for the layout of the prototype. RESULTS: [Add text here.] CONCLUSIONS: [Add text here.] BACKGROUND What causes visual impairment? • Illnesses - such as diabetes, cataracts, glaucoma, cornea disorder • Genetic or inherited from the parents to their children • Eyes not fully developed before birth • Accident to the eye • Some people who are 50 years of age and older There are four types of visual impairment: • Partially sighted - little visual problems • Low vision - even with the help of glasses or contact lenses, some individuals still have problems with their vision • Legally blind – is defined as visual acuity of 20/200 or less in the better eye with best correction, or their field of vision is 20 degrees or less in the better eye. • Totally blind - are people who do not have vision at all and must use something to help them such as learning Braille, guide dog, visual devices, or a cane Components for the obstacle device • The PIC • Is a microcontroller that handles the data processing of the sensors and output to the wrist bands • Sensors • The sensors are small ultrasonic transmitters and receivers that “ping” the local environment - Mainly detects proximity • IR sensors are more direct then the ultrasonic sensors. Components for the wrist bands • Rechargeable Telephone Battery • 4 volts, 500mAh • Long lasting than AA or AAA batteries • Motor • DC motor from old cell phones because its meant for low power systems and it was free and convenient Related Works • Wearable low vision aid (WLVA) - http://www.hitl.washington.edu/projects/wlva/ • Created a low power, portable, and assistive device to aid the visually impaired. • WLVA that incorporates infrared (IR) illumination and efficient machine vision algorithms to identify potential walking hazards and a scanning fiber display to present bright icons to warn the user. • The WLVA hardware will undergo a significant reduction in size, using a single tubular piezoelectric actuator less than 2mm in diameter to generate over 50 times more pixels while maintaining its extreme low cost. • A printed circuit board has been designed to significantly reduce the weight and size of the backpack electronics as well. • Wearable system for mobility improvement of visually impaired people - http://infoscience.epfl.ch/getfile.py?recid=99038&mode=best • Obstacle detection system for the visually impaired • The user is alerted of closed obstacles in range while traveling in their environment. • The system detects obstacle that surrounds the user by using multi-sonar system and sending appropriate vibro-tactile feedback. • The system aims at increasing the mobility of visually impaired people by offering new sensing abilities. • However, with maximum power consumption below the Watt, the system can run for hours out of a single battery supply. • The current system still need little improvements before a perfect fit to the application but demonstrates perfectly its usability. • Virtual Reality for the Nearly Blind - http://www.cs.bris.ac.uk/Research/MobileWearable/blind.html • This project seeks to use the capability of the neural network classifier developed at Bristol University to provide navigation clues for people with low vision. • This neural network classifier is capable of recognizing common objects in outdoor scenes and can label over 90% of the objects in an image into the correct object classes. • The new system will involve a small camera, which will pass images to a small computer which will then display a highly stylized image of the scene on a pair of virtual reality spectacles. • Important objects such as cars, roads and pavements will be presented in vivid, highly contrasting colors for easy identification. • This project started in 1997 with funding for a 3-year PhD studentship provided by the National Eye Research Centre. Additional funding for a further PhD student and a 3-year Research assistant has now been provided by EPSRC and Quintek plc. • Subjects for testing the system will be provided by the Bristol Eye Hospital. Initial tests of the system on a low vision subject from the Bristol National Institute for the Blind has demonstrated that such a system can provide a considerable improvement in the subjects ability to interpret a scene. Chair on right Set down sensors Sensors Circuit Schematic Table on the left Chair on left Facing chair CONCLUSIONS Meeting design criteria • Can detect objects within defined range • Can detect an increase in distance from the sensors to the ground (down stairs) • The type of object doesn’t have much affect in sensing the object • Objects that are not directly facing the sensors are harder to detect • The false positives and false negatives are too high for practical use Algorithm for collecting and processing data for the wearable device foreach(sonic sensor in device){ foreach(dataslot in queue){ If (data is highest recorded) Record as new high If (first data collected for a sonic sensor) Continue Else Store the data from the sensor in the queue } foreach(data in queue) Find lowest for this set and divide it by highest ever recorded and record it } Record reading from infrared sensor If (irdata less than acceptable range to floor OR difference between previous irdata readings is greater than acceptable range) Set output of the motors to full power and activate both Continue If (center sensor is less than normalized middle range) Set output of the motors to medium power and activate both Continue If (left sensor is less than normalized close range) Set flag to set output of motors to weak power and flag to activate left motor If (right sensor is less than normalized close range) Set flag to set output of motors to weak power and flag to activate right motor Activate motors and output power according to flags Repeat until it stops sensing Approximately 109,000 visually impaired people in the United States use long canes to get around. Just over 7,000 Americans use dog guides. Clint’s Feedback • Clint have problems with really bright days and low contrast objects. • Have a problem with detecting curbs or stairs • Unable to know a new environment • Knows an environment very well from memory • He doesn't want a guide dog because he doesn't want to put up with taking care of it. • Don’t want the device to go off all the time thus adjustable head set. • Large thigh pad with different vibrating zones or four vibrating wrist band and ankle brace (Hanna's idea) • Concerned about the detection angle • How wide or narrow can the device detect Microchip Program Pseudo-code Future Works • Quality of life Survey • Integrate other sensors for a more robust system • Creating the location device and money denomination device For additional information please contact: • Department of Computer Science and Engineering • Rochester, MI 48309 • Tel. 248-370-2200 • Fax 248-370-4625 OBJECTIVE The goal of this work is to significantly increase the quality of life for a visually impaired subject. The results of the effusiveness of the device are measured by giving a quality of life survey before and after using the device.