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Computer vision-based object recognition for the visually impaired in an indoors environment: a survey

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Abstract

Though several electronic assistive devices have been developed for the visually impaired in the past few decades, however, relatively few solutions have been devised to aid them in recognizing generic objects in their environment, particularly indoors. Nevertheless, research in this area is gaining momentum. Among the various technologies being utilized for this purpose, computer vision based solutions are emerging as one of the most promising options mainly due to their affordability and accessibility. This paper provides an overview of the various technologies that have been developed in recent years to assist the visually impaired in recognizing generic objects in an indoors environment with a focus on approaches based on computer vision. It aims to introduce researchers to the latest trends in this area as well as to serve as a resource for developers who wish to incorporate such solutions into their own work.

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Acknowledgements

This research project was supported by a grant from the “Research Center of the Female Scientific and Medical Colleges”, Deanship of Scientific Research, King Saud University.

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  1. Rabia Jafri

    Present address: , 2885 Sanford Ave SW #17557, Grandville, MI, 49418, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Information Technology, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

    Rabia Jafri & Shameem Fatima

  2. ISM-TEC LLC, Wilmington, DE, USA

    Syed Abid Ali

  3. Department of Computer Science, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, USA

    Hamid R. Arabnia

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  1. Rabia Jafri
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  2. Syed Abid Ali
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  3. Hamid R. Arabnia
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  4. Shameem Fatima
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Correspondence to Rabia Jafri.

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Jafri, R., Ali, S.A., Arabnia, H.R. et al. Computer vision-based object recognition for the visually impaired in an indoors environment: a survey. Vis Comput 30, 1197–1222 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00371-013-0886-1

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