TY - GEN
T1 - A smart wearable navigation system for visually impaired
AU - Trent, Michael
AU - Abdelgawad, Ahmed
AU - Yelamarthi, Kumar
N1 - Funding Information:
Authors would like to thank the Faculty Research and Creative Endeavors Committee (FRCE) and the Office of Research and Graduate Studies (ORGS) at Central Michigan University (CMU) for their support.
Publisher Copyright:
© ICST Institute for Computer Sciences, Social Informatics and Telecommunications Engineering 2017.
PY - 2017
Y1 - 2017
N2 - Smart devices are becoming more common in our daily lives; they are being incorporated in buildings, houses, cars, and public places. Moreover, this technological revolution, known as the Internet of Things (IoT), brings us new opportunities. A variety of navigation systems has been developed to assist blind people. Yet, none of these systems are connected to the IoT. The objective of this paper is to implement a low cost and low power IoT navigation system for blind people. The system consists of an array of ultrasonic sensors that are mounted on a waist belt to survey the scene, iBeacons to identify the location, and a Raspberry Pi to do the data processing. The Raspberry Pi uses the ultrasonic sensors to detect the obstacles, and provide audio cues via a Bluetooth headset to the user. iBeacons will be deployed at different locations with each having a unique ID. In the cloud, there is a database for all the iBeacons attached with the corresponding information e.g. address and information about the place. The Raspberry Pi detects the iBeacon’s ID and sends it to the cloud, accordingly the cloud sends back the information attached to this ID to the Raspberry Pi that converts the text to audio and plays it via a Bluetooth headset to the user. Tests demonstrate that the system is accurate within the threshold radius and functions as a navigational assistant.
AB - Smart devices are becoming more common in our daily lives; they are being incorporated in buildings, houses, cars, and public places. Moreover, this technological revolution, known as the Internet of Things (IoT), brings us new opportunities. A variety of navigation systems has been developed to assist blind people. Yet, none of these systems are connected to the IoT. The objective of this paper is to implement a low cost and low power IoT navigation system for blind people. The system consists of an array of ultrasonic sensors that are mounted on a waist belt to survey the scene, iBeacons to identify the location, and a Raspberry Pi to do the data processing. The Raspberry Pi uses the ultrasonic sensors to detect the obstacles, and provide audio cues via a Bluetooth headset to the user. iBeacons will be deployed at different locations with each having a unique ID. In the cloud, there is a database for all the iBeacons attached with the corresponding information e.g. address and information about the place. The Raspberry Pi detects the iBeacon’s ID and sends it to the cloud, accordingly the cloud sends back the information attached to this ID to the Raspberry Pi that converts the text to audio and plays it via a Bluetooth headset to the user. Tests demonstrate that the system is accurate within the threshold radius and functions as a navigational assistant.
KW - Audio feedback
KW - Navigation assistance
KW - Ultrasonic sensor
KW - Visual impairment
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85026750555&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/978-3-319-61949-1_35
DO - 10.1007/978-3-319-61949-1_35
M3 - Conference contribution
AN - SCOPUS:85026750555
SN - 9783319619484
T3 - Lecture Notes of the Institute for Computer Sciences, Social-Informatics and Telecommunications Engineering, LNICST
SP - 333
EP - 341
BT - Smart Objects and Technologies for Social Good - 2nd International Conference, GOODTECHS 2016, Proceedings
A2 - Gaggi, Ombretta
A2 - Bujari, Armir
A2 - Manzoni, Pietro
A2 - Palazzi, Claudio
A2 - Marquez-Barja, Johann M.
PB - Springer Verlag
Y2 - 30 November 2016 through 1 December 2016
ER -