A mobile phone system to find crosswalks for visually impaired pedestrians.

A mobile phone system to find crosswalks for visually impaired pedestrians. Technol Disabil. 2008 Oct 22;20(3):217-224 Authors: Shen H, Chan KY, Coughlan J, Brabyn J Abstract Urban intersections are the most dangerous parts of a blind or visually impaired pedestrian's travel. A prerequisite for safely crossing an intersection is entering the crosswalk in the right direction and avoiding the danger of straying outside the crosswalk. This paper presents a proof of concept system that seeks to provide such alignment information. The system consists of a standard mobile phone with built-in camera that uses computer vision algorithms to detect any crosswalk visible in the camera's field of view; audio feedback from the phone then helps the user align him/herself to it. Our prototype implementation on a Nokia mobile phone runs in about one second per image, and is intended for eventual use in a mobile phone system that will aid blind and visually impaired pedestrians in navigating traffic intersections. PMID: 20411035 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
Source: Technology and Disability - Category: Disability Tags: Technol Disabil Source Type: research
More News: Computers | Disability | Eyes