Related papers: Understanding Expectations for a Robotic Guide Dog…
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…
Assistive robotics is an important subarea of robotics that focuses on the well-being of people with disabilities. A robotic guide dog is an assistive quadruped robot that helps visually impaired people in obstacle avoidance and navigation.…
Globally, 340 million people have blindness or moderate to severe visual impairment (BVI)$^1$ which limits independent outdoor navigation$^2$ and negatively affects their health and quality of life$^{3,4}$. We surveyed 112 people with BVI…
Navigational challenges significantly impact the independence and mobility of Individuals with Visual Impairment (IVI). While numerous assistive technologies exist, their adoption remains limited due to usability challenges, financial…
Seeing-eye robots are very useful tools for guiding visually impaired people, potentially producing a huge societal impact given the low availability and high cost of real guide dogs. Although a few seeing-eye robot systems have already…
Group interactions are essential to social functioning, yet effective engagement relies on the ability to recognize and interpret visual cues, making such engagement a significant challenge for blind people. In this paper, we investigate…
Robots are increasingly integrated across industries, particularly in healthcare. However, many valuable applications for quadrupedal robots remain overlooked. This research explores the effectiveness of three reinforcement learning…
Only a small percentage of blind and low-vision people use traditional mobility aids such as a cane or a guide dog. Various assistive technologies have been proposed to address the limitations of traditional mobility aids. These devices…
As social virtual reality (VR) grows more popular, addressing accessibility for blind and low vision (BLV) users is increasingly critical. Researchers have proposed an AI "sighted guide" to help users navigate VR and answer their questions,…
This paper presents a VR-based guide dog training system designed to assist novice trainers in understanding guide dog behavior and issuing appropriate training commands. Guide dogs play a vital role in supporting independent mobility for…
Mobile service robots have become increasingly ubiquitous. However, these robots can pose potential accessibility issues and safety concerns to people with visual impairments (PVI). We sought to explore the challenges faced by PVI around…
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…
Visually impaired individuals rely heavily on accurate and timely information about obstacles and their surrounding environments to achieve independent living. In recent years, significant progress has been made in the development of…
Guiding robots can not only detect close-range obstacles like other guiding tools, but also extend its range to perceive the environment when making decisions. However, most existing works over-simplified the interaction between human…
By the year 2023, the global population of individuals with impaired vision has surpassed 220 million. People with impaired vision will find it difficult while finding path or avoiding obstacles, and must ask for auxiliary tools for help.…
People with visual impairments perceive their environment non-visually and often use AI-powered assistive tools to obtain textual descriptions of visual information. Recent large vision-language model-based AI-powered tools like Be My AI…
Cerebral Visual Impairment (CVI) is the set to be the leading cause of vision impairment, yet remains underrepresented in assistive technology research. Unlike ocular conditions, CVI affects higher-order visual processing-impacting object…
Empowering people who are blind or visually impaired (BVI) to enhance their orientation and mobility skills is critical to equalizing their access to social and economic opportunities. To manage this crucial challenge, we employed a novel…
This paper reports on a study that helps visually-impaired people to walk more confidently. The study hypothesizes that a smart cane that alerts visually-impaired people over obstacles in front could help them in walking with less accident.…
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…