BlindAid Semester Final Presentation

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BlindAidSemester Final Presentation

• Sandra Mau, Nik Melchior, and Maxim Makatchev

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Outline

• Motivation Background
• Why we did it
• Project Overview
• What we did
• Methodology
• How we did it
• System Design
• What features it has
• Evaluation
• Why it works
• Video Demo
• How it works
• Future Work
• What we will continue to do
• Website
• Conclusion

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Motivation Background

• Little developed for indoor navigation
  (Electronic Orientation Aids)
• Past attempts
• Talking Signs Marco (IR)
• Verbal Landmarks (FM radio)
• Barriers of the past
• Cost!
• to instrument environment receiver itself
• Capability and usefulness
• IR requires line-of-sight, active transmission
  requires power
• Not widely implemented

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Project Overview

• Electronic Orientation Aid for indoor navigation
  (wayfaring)
• BlindAid operates in buildings instrumented with
  passive RFID tags
• User has an RFID tag reader attached to cell
  phone
• System localizes and performs waypoint path
  planning
• Interface is primarily speech since we want to
  keep hands free

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Methodology

• Review of literature and existing technology
• Blind and Vision Rehabilitative Services of
  Pittsburgh
• Interviews and ethnographies with members of
  staff and clients
• Orientation and mobility training
• Rehabilitation
• Dormitories for clients during training

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Methodology
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Methodology
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Methodology
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System Design

• RFID instrumentation
• Instrumentation is necessary given current state
  of computer senses
• Tags are cheap 0.20 for passive tags with 10m
  range
• Tags are small 10cm x 1cm

http//www.alientechnology.com/
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System Design

• RFID instrumentation
• Standards for materials, range, and protocols

http//www.symbol.com/
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System Design

• Cell phones
• Commodity hardware
• Already have many necessary technologies
• Microphone
• Speaker
• Java
• Bluetooth
• Keypad
• Screen readers
• Compasses and RFID readers coming soon?

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Evaluation

• Does it foster good human-robot interaction?
• Interface geared towards needs of blind
• Vocal and tactile I/O
• Hands free but unobstructed hearing
• System provides appropriate instructions
• System is flexible with user options
• System is extensible for future upgrades
• Does it empower the user?
• Allows user to be more independent traveler
• Fosters independence and dignity

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Evaluation

• Is the implementation cost-effective?
• Instrumenting environment
• NSH 330 tags 66
• Wean 1376 tags 275.20
• Handheld device
• Cell phones service (a must already!)
• RFID reader

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Cross of Pain Analysis

• Things
• Morphology Instrumentation
• Cell phone with Internet access
• With Bluetooth will free hand
• RFID reader
• RFID tag network
• Features
• Text to speech
• Voice command recognition
• Navigation path-planning software
• Location tracking and Path updates

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Cross of Pain Analysis

• Transaction
• Device to Human
• Voice prompts by software to guide user
• Vocal directions
• Choice of vocal or tactile input
• Device to Environment
• RFID reader picks up tags induced signal
• Tag looked-up in map downloaded from online
  database
• Human to Environment
• Human follows direction given by device to
  navigate the halls

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Cross of Pain Analysis

• Human interaction
• Increased mobility and independence of visually
  impaired
• The form and interaction can be extended for
  navigational use in general, not just the blind
• Gives the general user knowledge of environment
• Product not associated with disability, thus less
  of a social stigma for the blind

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Cross of Pain Analysis

• Cosmos
• Individual Dignity fostered by increased
  independence, self-reliance and social adequacy
• Families Feel better
• General community Make the community accessible
  to all individuals and the individuals accessible
  for the community
• Academic community Research and development
• Government Facilitating assistance and equality

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(No Transcript)
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Video following the route
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Alternative scenarios

• Veering off the route
• User requests assistance in re-routing
• User cancels navigation assistance
• System issues off-the-route warning and offers
  an assistance in returning to the route.
• System issues off-the-route warning and offers
  an assistance in re-routing.

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Video veering off the route
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Future work

• User Studies
• Instrumenting environment
• Optimal locations for RFID tags
• Optimal RFID range and coverage
• Automated mapping of tags
• Future add ons
• Adding a compass for absolute orientation
• GPS for outdoor navigation with route planning
• Interaction
• Generating optimal route based on user
  preferences
• Directing a user to resolve ambiguity about the
  user location and orientation
• Vocal and tactile input and output

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Website

• Blind accessible!
• http//www.cs.cmu.edu/phri/BLINDAID/

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Thank you!