scholarly journals Assistive Devices: Technology Development for the Visually Impaired

Designs ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 75
Author(s):  
Jorge Rodolfo Beingolea ◽  
Miguel A. Zea-Vargas ◽  
Renato Huallpa ◽  
Xiomara Vilca ◽  
Renzo Bolivar ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Visually Impaired ◽  
Technology Development ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Disabled Persons ◽  
Assistive Devices ◽  
Assistive Device ◽  
Functional Benefit ◽  
Controlled Environments ◽  
Real Time Tracking ◽  
Materials Used

Technology has been contributing significantly to the development of assistive devices for disabled persons (DPs). Many of these devices aim to assist people who are blind or visually impaired, providing them with friendlier ways to interact with their surroundings (obstacles, objects, and navigation). However, the high cost of these devices makes it difficult for DPs to purchase them. The development of an assistive device kit to be used by the visually impaired in controlled environments (indoor) or urban spaces (outdoor) is presented in this work with a didactic and detailed approach. This low-cost kit (USD 50 per device) consists of a Smart Cane, Smart Cap, and Smart Glove. The methodology addressed aims to support and encourage the reproduction, customization, and manufacture of new assistive devices with low cost and wide applicability. The devices are functional, benefit usability, and, due to the characteristics of the project and the materials used in their construction, do not impact the ergonomics of the visually impaired or disabled person who may use these devices. The devices that integrate the assistive kit can be used independently or combined. In addition to having detection, fall-control, navigation, and real-time tracking functions, they are independent of additional local infrastructure for their use.

Mesh Network of eHealth Intelligent Agents for Visually Impaired and Blind People

2022 ◽  
pp. 240-271
Author(s):  
Dmytro Zubov
Keyword(s):  
Intelligent Agents ◽  
Visually Impaired ◽  
Assistive Devices ◽  
Mesh Network ◽  
Assistive Device ◽  
Raspberry Pi ◽  
Industrial Facilities ◽  
Blind And Visually Impaired ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Human Faces

Smart assistive devices for blind and visually impaired (B&VI) people are of high interest today since wearable IoT hardware became available for a wide range of users. In the first project, the Raspberry Pi 3 B board measures a distance to the nearest obstacle via ultrasonic sensor HC-SR04 and recognizes human faces by Pi camera, OpenCV library, and Adam Geitgey module. Objects are found by Bluetooth devices of classes 1-3 and iBeacons. Intelligent eHealth agents cooperate with one another in a smart city mesh network via MQTT and BLE protocols. In the second project, B&VIs are supported to play golf. Golf flagsticks have sound marking devices with a buzzer, NodeMcu Lua ESP8266 ESP-12 WiFi board, and WiFi remote control. In the third project, an assistive device supports the orientation of B&VIs by measuring the distance to obstacles via Arduino Uno and HC-SR04. The distance is pronounced through headphones. In the fourth project, the soft-/hardware complex uses Raspberry Pi 3 B and Bytereal iBeacon fingerprinting to uniquely identify the B&VI location at industrial facilities.

scholarly journals Intelligent Assistive System for Visually Disabled Persons

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 1436-1440
Keyword(s):  
Optical Character Recognition ◽  
Visually Impaired ◽  
Disabled Persons ◽  
Obstacle Detection ◽  
Outdoor Environment ◽  
Assistive Device ◽  
Raspberry Pi ◽  
New Device ◽  
Visually Impaired People ◽  
Impaired People

There is increasin demand for smart widgets which make people more comfortable. Though many research works have done on current existing devices/systems for visually impaired people are not providing facilities them enough. The imperceptible people read Braille scripted books only, so here developing a new device that will assist the visually impaired people and also providing desired language reading facility. This smart assistive device will help visually impaired people gain increased independence and freedom in society. This device has an obstacle detection sensor to intimate the obstacles to the visually impaired person and a camera connected to Raspberry pi to convert image to text using Optical Character Recognition (OCR). The read data is converted to speech using text to speech synthesizer. This will useful for visually impaired people for surviving in outdoor environment as well as reading books which are in normal script. The read data can be stored in database for further reading and it can be retrieve by giving a command.

scholarly journals Low cost real time braille keypad for communication

2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (2.8) ◽  
pp. 77
Author(s):  
Lakshmi Prabha.P ◽  
Sanjanamenon EJ ◽  
Christina Samuel ◽  
Ganga Ramesh
Keyword(s):  
Mobile Phones ◽  
Visually Impaired ◽  
Educational Software ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Assistive Device ◽  
Normal Person ◽  
Text To Speech ◽  
Visually Impaired People ◽  
Impaired People ◽  
Communication Methods

Visually impaired people find it challenging to use devices such as computers, and other digital/educational software like every normal person does in this technology driven world. Due to their inability to gainaccess to basic and vital information they sometimes feel excluded from the society and also limit their knowledge. Several attempts have beenmade in the recent years toimprove their communication methods such as tactile sign language, Braille glove, and Audioacces devices so on. This paper suggests an innovative assistive device, a Braille keypad, for the viually impaired that would help them use computers just like a normal person. The Braille keypad implements the Braille cells as 6 switches that can be pressed simultaneously based on the actual Braille combination in order to type a particular letter and words. The corresponding letters/words are displayed as well as can be heard by the user. A text to speech algorithm is implemented using puTTY software which would help the user confirm what he/she has typed is right. In this way it enables them to interact and communicate as well as use computers and mobile phones much like a normal person.

scholarly journals Evaluation of adapted books and the use of Tactile Cartography at public schools in the State of São Paulo, Brazil

2018 ◽  
Vol 1 ◽  
pp. 1-6
Author(s):  
Carla Cristina Reinaldo Gimenes de Sena ◽  
Barbara Gomes Flaire Jordão
Keyword(s):  
Public Schools ◽  
Visually Impaired ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Sao Paulo ◽  
The State ◽  
São Paulo ◽  
Students With Special Needs ◽  
Teachers And Students ◽  
Visually Impaired Students ◽  
Materials Used

Brazil adopts an educational inclusion policy, which is based on the insertion of students with special needs in the elementary and high school. In the State of São Paulo, Brazil, visually impaired students, who attend public schools, receive books adapted for blind and low sighted individuals, so they can participate on Geography classes. This paper presents the results of the analysis of the enlarged material adapted to braille used at the elementary school. The analysis was based on the principle of the graphical semiology developed by ALMEIDA (2015), which discusses the use of alternative materials in order to represent areas, lines and dots with different heights, textures and shapes. The results were obtained through interviews, surveys and evaluation of teachers and students, who somehow experience the specificities of the visually impaired students daily. We observed that the adapted books do not bring all information contained in the original versions of the books and some of the exercises are not presented. Furthermore we could notice that the teachers and other students do not have any level of proficiency in understanding braille, which can hamper the interaction between visually impaired and the other students. After the observations, we adapted 22 maps using colored materials and handcraft techniques taking in-to account the different needs of the low sighted audience. The materials used are easy to be found and purchased, since they have a low cost. Using this alternative material we achieved a learning that was representative to all students and to the teachers, providing the socialization of the acquired knowledge.

scholarly journals Indoor Low Cost Assistive Device using 2D SLAM Based on LiDAR for Visually Impaired People

2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 115-121
Author(s):  
Heba Hakim ◽  
Ali Marhoon
Keyword(s):  
Visually Impaired ◽  
Speech Synthesis ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Optimal Path ◽  
Recognition System ◽  
Ultrasonic Sensor ◽  
Assistive Device ◽  
Raspberry Pi ◽  
Planning Algorithm ◽  
Indoor Scenarios

Many assistive devices have been developed for visually impaired (VI) person in recent years which solve the problems that face VI person in his/her daily moving. Most of researches try to solve the obstacle avoidance or navigation problem, and others focus on assisting VI person to recognize the objects in his/her surrounding environment. However, a few of them integrate both navigation and recognition capabilities in their system. According to above needs, an assistive device is presented in this paper that achieves both capabilities to aid the VI person to (1) navigate safely from his/her current location (pose) to a desired destination in unknown environment, and (2) recognize his/her surrounding objects. The proposed system consists of the low cost sensors Neato XV-11 LiDAR, ultrasonic sensor, Raspberry pi camera (CameraPi), which are hold on a white cane. Hector SLAM based on 2D LiDAR is used to construct a 2D-map of unfamiliar environment. While A* path planning algorithm generates an optimal path on the given 2D hector map. Moreover, the temporary obstacles in front of VI person are detected by an ultrasonic sensor. The recognition system based on Convolution Neural Networks (CNN) technique is implemented in this work to predict object class besides enhance the navigation system. The interaction between the VI person and an assistive system is done by audio module (speech recognition and speech synthesis). The proposed system performance has been evaluated on various real-time experiments conducted in indoor scenarios, showing the efficiency of the proposed system.

Low cost audio based intelligent guidance system for visually impaired people

2020 ◽  
Vol 24 (03) ◽  
pp. 515-520
Author(s):  
Vattumilli Komal Venugopal ◽  
Alampally Naveen ◽  
Rajkumar R ◽  
Govinda K ◽  
Jolly Masih
Keyword(s):  
Visually Impaired ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Guidance System ◽  
Visually Impaired People ◽  
Impaired People

Using a saddle-assistive device equipped with mechanical orthosis for walking of the person with incomplete spinal cord injury

2021 ◽  
pp. 095441192110201
Author(s):  
Akbar Hojjati Najafabadi ◽  
Saeid Amini ◽  
Farzam Farahmand
Keyword(s):  
Spinal Cord ◽  
Spinal Cord Injury ◽  
Reaction Force ◽  
Assistive Devices ◽  
Assistive Device ◽  
Walking Ability ◽  
Vertical Force ◽  
Incomplete Spinal Cord Injury ◽  
Combined Application ◽  
Cord Injury

The majority of the people with incomplete spinal cord injury lose their walking ability, due to the weakness of their muscle motors in providing torque. As a result, developing assistive devices to improve their conditionis of great importance. In this study, a combined application of the saddle-assistive device (S-AD) and mechanical medial linkage or thosis was evaluated to improve the walking ability in patients with spinal cord injury in the gait laboratory. This mobile assistive device is called the saddle-assistive device equipped with medial linkage or thosis (S-ADEM). In this device, a mechanical orthosis was used in a wheeled walker as previously done in the literature. Initially, for evaluation of the proposed assistive device, the experimental results related to the forces and torques exerted on the feet and upper limbs of a person with the incomplete Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) during walking usingthe standard walker were compared with an those obtained from using the S-ADEM on an able-bodied subject. It was found that using this combination of assistive devices decreases the vertical force and torque on the foot at the time of walking by 53% and 48%, respectively compared to a standard walker. Moreover, the hand-reaction force on the upper limb was negligible instanding and walking positions usingthe introduced device. The findings of this study revealed that the walking ability of the patients with incomplete SCI was improved using the proposed device, which is due to the bodyweight support and the motion technology used in it.

scholarly journals Identical Limb Dynamics for Unilateral Impairments through Biomechanical Equivalence

Symmetry ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 705
Author(s):  
Fatemeh Rasouli ◽  
Kyle B. Reed
Keyword(s):  
Mathematical Model ◽  
Numerical Solution ◽  
Dynamic Models ◽  
Assistive Devices ◽  
Assistive Device ◽  
Human Walking ◽  
Physical Parameters ◽  
Gait Rehabilitation ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Two Sides

Dynamic models, such as double pendulums, can generate similar dynamics as human limbs. They are versatile tools for simulating and analyzing the human walking cycle and performance under various conditions. They include multiple links, hinges, and masses that represent physical parameters of a limb or an assistive device. This study develops a mathematical model of dissimilar double pendulums that mimics human walking with unilateral gait impairment and establishes identical dynamics between asymmetric limbs. It introduces new coefficients that create biomechanical equivalence between two sides of an asymmetric gait. The numerical solution demonstrates that dissimilar double pendulums can have symmetric kinematic and kinetic outcomes. Parallel solutions with different physical parameters but similar biomechanical coefficients enable interchangeable designs that could be incorporated into gait rehabilitation treatments or alternative prosthetic and ambulatory assistive devices.

scholarly journals Hybrid mosquitoes? Evidence from rural Tanzania on how local communities conceptualize and respond to modified mosquitoes as a tool for malaria control

2021 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Marceline F. Finda ◽  
Fredros O. Okumu ◽  
Elihaika Minja ◽  
Rukiyah Njalambaha ◽  
Winfrida Mponzi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Malaria Control ◽  
Technology Development ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Public Support ◽  
Community Leaders ◽  
Community Perceptions ◽  
Novel Technologies ◽  
Control Programmes ◽  
High Level ◽  
Interpretive Frames

Abstract Background Different forms of mosquito modifications are being considered as potential high-impact and low-cost tools for future malaria control in Africa. Although still under evaluation, the eventual success of these technologies will require high-level public acceptance. Understanding prevailing community perceptions of mosquito modification is, therefore, crucial for effective design and implementation of these interventions. This study investigated community perceptions regarding genetically-modified mosquitoes (GMMs) and their potential for malaria control in Tanzanian villages where no research or campaign for such technologies has yet been undertaken. Methods A mixed-methods design was used, involving: (i) focus group discussions (FGD) with community leaders to get insights on how they frame and would respond to GMMs, and (ii) structured questionnaires administered to 490 community members to assess awareness, perceptions and support for GMMs for malaria control. Descriptive statistics were used to summarize the findings and thematic content analysis was used to identify key concepts and interpret the findings. Results Nearly all survey respondents were unaware of mosquito modification technologies for malaria control (94.3%), and reported no knowledge of their specific characteristics (97.3%). However, community leaders participating in FGDs offered a set of distinctive interpretive frames to conceptualize interventions relying on GMMs for malaria control. The participants commonly referenced their experiences of cross-breeding for selecting preferred traits in domestic plants and animals. Preferred GMMs attributes included the expected reductions in insecticide use and human labour. Population suppression approaches, requiring as few releases as possible, were favoured. Common concerns included whether the GMMs would look or behave differently than wild mosquitoes, and how the technology would be integrated into current malaria control policies. The participants emphasised the importance and the challenge of educating and engaging communities during the technology development. Conclusions Understanding how communities perceive and interpret novel technologies is crucial to the design and effective implementation of new vector control programmes. This study offers vital clues on how communities with no prior experience of modified mosquitoes might conceptualize or respond to such technologies when deployed in the context of malaria control programmes. Drawing upon existing interpretive frames and locally-resonant analogies when deploying such technologies may provide a basis for more durable public support in the future.

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