Related papers: WanderGuide: Indoor Map-less Robotic Guide for Exp…
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…
Indoor built environments like homes and offices often present complex and cluttered layouts that pose significant challenges for individuals who are blind or visually impaired, especially when performing tasks that involve locating and…
To help the blind people walk to the destination efficiently and safely in indoor environment, a novel wearable navigation device is presented in this paper. The locating, way-finding, route following and obstacle avoiding modules are the…
Robotic telepresence enables users to navigate and experience remote environments. However, effective navigation and situational awareness depend on users' prior knowledge of the environment, limiting the usefulness of these systems for…
A robot guide dog has compelling advantages over animal guide dogs for its cost-effectiveness, potential for mass production, and low maintenance burden. However, despite the long history of guide dog robot research, previous studies were…
While there is no replacement for the learned expertise, devotion, and social benefits of a guide dog, there are cases in which a robot navigation assistant could be helpful for individuals with blindness or low vision (BLV). This study…
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…
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…
Engaging in recreational activities in public spaces poses challenges for blind people, often involving dependency on sighted help. Window shopping is a key recreational activity that remains inaccessible. In this paper, we investigate the…
This paper explores the principles for transforming a quadrupedal robot into a guide robot for individuals with visual impairments. A guide robot has great potential to resolve the limited availability of guide animals that are accessible…
Robotic guide dogs hold significant potential to enhance the autonomy and mobility of blind or visually impaired (BVI) individuals by offering universal assistance over unstructured terrains at affordable costs. However, the design of…
Strategies for finding one's way through an unfamiliar environment may be helped by computer generated 2D maps, 3D virtual environments, or other navigation aids. The relative effectiveness of 2D and 3D virtual navigation aids was…
This paper presents a wearable assistive device with the shape of a pair of eyeglasses that allows visually impaired people to navigate safely and quickly in unfamiliar environment, as well as perceive the complicated environment to…
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…
We present a change-blindness based redirected walking algorithm that allows a user to explore on foot a virtual indoor environment consisting of an infinite number of rooms while at the same time ensuring collision-free walking for the…
As social VR applications grow in popularity, blind and low vision users encounter continued accessibility barriers. Yet social VR, which enables multiple people to engage in the same virtual space, presents a unique opportunity to allow…
While guide dogs offer essential mobility assistance, their high cost, limited availability, and care requirements make them inaccessible to most blind or low vision (BLV) individuals. Recent advances in quadruped robots provide a scalable…
People with limited mobility in the U.S. (defined as having difficulty or inability to walk a quarter of a mile without help and without the use of special equipment) face a growing informational gap: while pedestrian routing algorithms are…
Robotic guidance systems have shown promise in supporting blind and visually impaired (BVI) individuals with wayfinding and obstacle avoidance. However, most existing systems assume a clear path and do not support a critical aspect of…
Walking in a Virtual Environment is a bounded task. It is challenging for a subject to navigate a large virtual environment designed in a limited physical space. External hardware support may be required to achieve such an act in a concise…