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Recent studies have focused on developing advanced assistive devices to help blind or visually impaired people. Navigation is challenging for this community; however, developing a simple yet reliable navigation system is still an unmet…
A single mobile service robot may generate hundreds of encounters with pedestrians, yet there is little published data on the factors influencing these incidental human-robot encounters. We report the results of a between-subjects…
Blind people have limited opportunities to explore an environment based on their interests. While existing navigation systems could provide them with surrounding information while navigating, they have limited scalability as they require…
Blind and low-vision (BLV) people face many challenges when venturing into public environments, often wishing it were easier to get help from people nearby. Ironically, while many sighted individuals are willing to help, such interactions…
Physically assistive robots in home environments can enhance the autonomy of individuals with impairments, allowing them to regain the ability to conduct self-care and household tasks. Individuals with physical limitations may find existing…
Our research explores the potential of a humanoid robot for work in unpredictable environments, but controlling a humanoid robot remains a very difficult problem. In our previous work, we designed a prototype virtual reality (VR) interface…
Autonomy and independent navigation are vital to daily life but remain challenging for individuals with blindness. Robotic systems can enhance mobility and confidence by providing intelligent navigation assistance. However, fully autonomous…
Visually impaired people face numerous challenges when it comes to transportation. Not only must they circumvent obstacles while navigating, but they also need access to essential information related to available public transport,…
Nonverbal visual symbols and displays play an important role in communication when humans and robots work collaboratively. However, few studies have investigated how different types of non-verbal cues affect objective task performance,…
Physically assistive robots present an opportunity to significantly increase the well-being and independence of individuals with motor impairments or other forms of disability who are unable to complete activities of daily living (ADLs).…
Robot guide dogs offer navigation assistance that greatly expands the independent mobility of the visually impaired, but their effective use requires subtle human-robot coordination that is difficult for users to learn from generic verbal…
This is a summary paper of a use case of a Robotdog dedicated to guide visually impaired people in complex environment like a smart intersection. In such scenarios, the Robotdog has to autonomously decide whether it is safe to cross the…
Robots are becoming more capable and can autonomously perform tasks such as navigating between locations. However, human oversight remains crucial. This study compared two touchless methods for directing mobile robots: voice control and…
This paper presents a framework to navigate visually impaired people through unfamiliar environments by means of a mobile manipulator. The Human-Robot system consists of three key components: a mobile base, a robotic arm, and the human…
Lacking the ability to sense ambient environments effectively, blind and visually impaired people (BVIP) face difficulty in walking outdoors, especially in urban areas. Therefore, tools for assisting BVIP are of great importance. In this…
Regardless of their industrial or research application, the streamlining of robot operations is limited by the proximity of experienced users to the actual hardware. Be it massive open online robotics courses, crowd-sourcing of robot task…
Service and assistive robots are increasingly being deployed in dynamic social environments; however, ensuring transparent and explainable interactions remains a significant challenge. This paper presents a multimodal explainability module…
Over the last decade there has been considerable research into how artificial intelligence (AI), specifically computer vision, can assist people who are blind or have low-vision (BLV) to understand their environment. However, there has been…
Over the past decade, a multitude of service robots have been developed to fulfill a wide range of practical purposes. Notably, roles such as reception and robotic guidance have garnered extensive popularity. In these positions, robots are…
People with visual impairments (PwVI) often have difficulties navigating through unfamiliar indoor environments. However, current wayfinding tools are fairly limited. In this short paper, we present our in-progress work on a wayfinding…