MULTISENSOR STRATEGIES TO ASSIST BLIND PEOPLE: A CLEAR-PATH INDICATOR

MULTISENSOR STRATEGIES TO ASSIST BLIND PEOPLE: A  CLEAR-PATH INDICATOR  

Aug. 2009  

The  development  of  electronic  sensing  devices   for  the  visually  impaired requires knowledge of the needs and abilities of this class of people.

This paper presents a rough analysis that can be used to properly define the criteria to be adopted for the design of such devices.

In  particular,  attention  will  be  focused  on  clear-path  indicators,  highlighting their  role  in  orientation  and  mobility  tasks.  A  new  device  belonging  to  this class is presented.

The  detector  is  based  on  a  multisensor  strategy  and  adopts  smart  signal processing to provide the user with suitable information about the position of objects   hindering   his   or   her   path.   Experimental   trials   demonstrate   the efficiency of the device developed.