Abstract
This paper describes the development of a navigation aid in order to assist blind and visually impaired people to navigate easily, safely and to detect any obstacles. The system is based on a microcontroller with synthetic speech output. In addition, it consists of two vibrators, two ultrasonic sensors mounted on the user’s shoulders and another one integrated into the cane. This aid is able to give information to the blind about urban walking routes and to provide real-time information on the distance of over-hanging obstacles within six meters along the travel path ahead of the user. The suggested system consists then in sensing the surrounding environment via sonar sensors and sending vibro-tactile feedback to the user of the position of the closest obstacles in range. For the ultrasonic cane, it is used to detect any obstacle on the ground.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
E. Pissaloux, Compensation de la dèficience visuelle. Systémes d’aides á l’handicap(Pruski, Ed.), Hermes, 2003.
A. Dodds, D. Clark-Carter, and C. Howarth, “The sonic PathFinder: an evaluation,” Journal of Visual Impairment and Blindness,vol. 78, no. 5, pp. 206–207, 1984.
A. Heyes, “A polaroid ultrasonic travel aid for the blind,” Journal of Visual Impairment and Blindness, vol. 76, pp. 199–201, 1982.
I. Ulrich, and J. Borenstein, “The guide cane-Applying mobile robot technologies to assist the visually impaired,” IEEE Transaction on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics-Part A: Systems and Humans, vol. 31,no. 2, pp. 131-136, 2001.
T. Ifukube, T. Sasaki, and C. Peng, “A blind mobility aid modeled after echolocation of bats,” IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering, vol. 38, no. 5, pp. 461–465, 1991.
J. Barth, and E. Foulhe, “Preview: A neglected variable in orientation and mobility,” Journal of Visual Impairment and Blindness, vol. 73, no. 2, pp. 41–48, 1979.
S. Shoval, J. Borenstein, and Y. Koren, “The NavBelt- A computerized travel aid for the blind based on mobile robotics technology,” IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering, vol. 45, no 11, pp. 1376-1386, 1998.
J.F. Fournier, and J. Hamelin, “Problémes de navigation aèrienne au pôle nord,” 8éme colloque international du centre d’ètudes arctiques (CNRS), Paris, pp. 179-187, 1983.
M. Bousbia-Salah, A. Larbi, and M. Bedda, “An approach for the measurement of distance travelled by blind and visually impaired people,” in Proc. 10th IEEE International Conference on Electronics, Circuits and Systems, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates, pp. 1312-1315, 2003.
S. Cardin, D. Thalmann, F. Vexo, “Wearable obstacle detection system for visually impaired people,” VR workshop on haptic and tactile perception of deformable objects, Hannover, Germany, 2005.
Y.J. Kim, C.H. Kim, and B.K. Kim, “Design of auditory guidance system for the blind with signal transformation from stereo ultrasonic to binaural sound,” in Proc. Int. Sym. Robotics, 2001.
I.L. Freeston, V.L. Callaghan and N.D. Russel, “A portable navigation aid for the blind,” IEEE frontiers of engineering and computing in health care, pp. 247-249, 1984.
C. Tavernier, Applications industrielles de PIC, ETSF, Paris, 2001.
Analog Devices, ADXL213 Datasheet, Norwood, MA, 2004.
ChiCorder, ISD5216 Datasheet, 2003.
Lextronic, MSU08 Datasheet, 2005.
H. Hashimoto, K. Magatani, K. Yanashima, “The development of the navigation system for visually impaired persons,” in Proc. 23 rd Annual EMBS international conference, Istanbul, Turkey, pp.1481-1483, 2001.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2007 Springer
About this paper
Cite this paper
Bousbia-Salah, M., Fezari, M. (2007). A Navigation Tool for Blind People. In: Sobh, T. (eds) Innovations and Advanced Techniques in Computer and Information Sciences and Engineering. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-6268-1_59
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-6268-1_59
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-1-4020-6267-4
Online ISBN: 978-1-4020-6268-1
eBook Packages: EngineeringEngineering (R0)