The research we are reporting here is part of our effort to develop a navigation system for the blind. Our long-term goal is to create a portable, self-contained system that will allow visually impaired individuals to travel through familiar and unfamiliar environments without the assistance of guides. The system, as it exists now, consists of the following functional components: (1) a module for determining the traveler's position and orientation in space, (2) a Geographic Information System comprising a detailed database of our test site and software for route planning and for obtaining information from the database, and (3) the user interface. The experiment reported here is concerned with one function of the navigation system: guiding the traveler along a predefined route. We evaluate guidance performance as a function of four different display modes: one involving spatialized sound from a virtual acoustic display, and three involving verbal commands issued by a synthetic speech display. The virtual display mode fared best in terms of both guidance performance and user preferences. 1

We report on two route guidance tasks using a highly accurate GPS receiver. Eight participants who were visually impaired or blind traveled two routes, one on a city sidewalk, and one in a city park. We tested and compared two types of spatial output devices that give route guidance information. One output display used a hand-held pointer, using a standard Talking Signs receiver that integrated the GPS signal information with the Talking Signs ® signal information. This device gave travel instructions and oncourse confirmation when pointed in the proper direction. The other spatial display used auditory virtual reality that presented the audible spatial information (waypoint direction and distance) through small air-tubes inserted into the ear. Travel times, distance, and errors were recorded. In addition, we tested users ’ ability to find precise locations, such as the intersections of small paths and a bus stop pole. Various subjective ratings were collected about blind participants ’ needs and perception of the various display and output options that they used. All subjects completed the tasks with both output displays, found all the waypoints and locations, and rated the two displays highly. The virtual sound display produced superior times overall and received slightly higher favorable ratings.

Abstract: This article reports on a survey of the preferences of visually impaired persons for a possible personal navigation device. The results showed that the majority of participants preferred speech input and output interfaces, were willing to use such a product, thought that they would make more trips with such a device, and had some concerns about the cosmetic acceptability of a device and the use of a single or stereo headphone interface.

www.ati.es/novatica/>, journal of the Spanish CEPIS society ATI (Asociación

Abstract: The most challenging issue of the navigation assistive systems for the visually impaired is the instantaneous and accurate spatial localization of the user. Most of the previous proposed systems based on GPS sensors have clearly insufficient accuracy for pedestrian use and are confined to outdoor with severe failing in urban area. This paper presents an interesting alternative localization algorithm using a body mounted single camera. Instantaneous accurate localization and heading estimates of the person are computed from images as the trip progresses along a memorised path. A first portable prototype has been tested for outdoor as well as indoor pedestrian trips. Experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of the vision based localization to keep the walker in a navigation corridor less than one meter width along the intended path. Future works will investigate multimodal adaptative interface taking account the psychological and ergonomic factors for the blind end-user to design a suitable guiding solution for the blind and visually impaired.

The research we are reporting here is part of our effort to develop a navigation system for the blind. Our long-term goal is to create a portable, self-contained system that will allow visually impaired individuals to travel through familiar and unfamiliar environments without the assistance of guides. The system, as it exists now, consists of the following functional components: (1) a module for determining the traveler's position and orientation in space, (2) a Geographic Information System comprising a detailed database of our test site and software for route planning and for obtaining information from the database, and (3) the user interface. The experiment reported here is concerned with one function of the navigation system: guiding the traveler along a prede#ned route. We evaluate guidance performance as a function of four different display modes: one involving spatialized sound from a virtual acoustic display, and three involving verbal commands issued by a synthetic speech display. The virtual display mode fared best in terms of both guidance performance and user preferences. 1

We outline the design for a navigation system for the visually impaired and describe the progress we have made toward such a system. Our long-term goal is for a portable, self-contained system that will allow visually impaired individuals to travel through familiar and unfamiliar environments without the assistance of guides. The system, as it exists now, consists of the following functional components: (1) a means of determining the traveler's position and orientation in space, (2) a Geographic Information System comprising a detailed database of the surrounding environment and functions for automatic route planning and for selecting the database information desired by the user, and (3) the user interface. 1

The research we are reporting here is part of our effort to develop a navigation sys-tem for the blind. Our long-term goal is to create a portable, self-contained system that will allow visually impaired individuals to travel through familiar and unfamiliar environments without the assistance of guides. The system, as it exists now, consists of the following functional components: (1) a module for determining the traveler’s posi-tion and orientation in space, (2) a Geographic Information System comprising a de-tailed database of our test site and software for route planning and for obtaining infor-mation from the database, and (3) the user interface. The experiment reported here is concerned with one function of the navigation system: guiding the traveler along a predefined route. We evaluate guidance performance as a function of four different display modes: one involving spatialized sound from a virtual acoustic display, and three involving verbal commands issued by a synthetic speech display. The virtual dis-play mode fared best in terms of both guidance performance and user preferences. 1