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A wearable system for mobility improvement of visually impaired people

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Abstract

Degradation of the visual system can lead to a dramatic reduction of mobility by limiting a person to his sense of touch and hearing. This paper presents the development of an obstacle detection system for visually impaired people. While moving in his environment the user is alerted to close obstacles in range. The system we propose detects an obstacle surrounding the user by using a multi-sonar system and sending appropriate vibrotactile feedback. The system aims at increasing the mobility of visually impaired people by offering new sensing abilities.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Virtual Reality Laboratory (VRlab), Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), CH-1015, Lausanne, Switzerland

    Sylvain Cardin, Daniel Thalmann & Frédéric Vexo

Authors
  1. Sylvain Cardin
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  2. Daniel Thalmann
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  3. Frédéric Vexo
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Correspondence to Sylvain Cardin.

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Cardin, S., Thalmann, D. & Vexo, F. A wearable system for mobility improvement of visually impaired people. TVC 23, 109–118 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00371-006-0032-4

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