A team of researchers at Curtin University in Australia are working on a project to improve the white cane. The purpose of the project is to design a device that would create an indoor map of the user's surroundings using sensors. According to the article in Science Alert, the sensors will be used to:
"• Determine the direction and distance a user walks whilst indoors along with identifying features such as stairs and inclines.
• Extract the edges of paths and obstacles using stereoscopic cameras, classify what they are, and build a map of the environment using image processing techniques.
• Pick up audio cues to help locate and track moving objects from a mobile receiver.
• Allow for efficient methods of communicating map and sensor data across networks, to ensure data is available before a user collides with an obstacle (in less than 1/6 of a second)
• Enable efficient methods of security and trust within networks, to eliminate risk of leading the blind into dangerous situations."
The hope is that the project will make navigating safer and give the user a better idea of what is around them.
Source: Go to sourceCategory: Miscellaneous
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For the past three years Alena has been a feature writer for the online magazine Matilda Ziegler. She has also been a contractor for the Oregon Commission for the Blind, helping blind adults learn to use adaptive technology. She is studying to be a teacher of the visually impaired at Portland State. You might also recognize her from the Serotalk podcast Triple Click Home.
