Navigating for Visually Handicapped to Walk Alone with RFID Technologies
Masayoshi Asano, Yusuke Kajiwara, Hiromitsu Shimakawa · 2015
Visually handicapped use their white cane to find obstacles. They follow tactile walking surface indicators to find routes and intersections. They use all sensory organs they can use to acquire the surrounding information. They match the surrounding information with routing information they have, to find their current location and target direction. However, even if tactile walking surface indicators are installed, it is difficult for them to visit unknown places because they have no correct routing information. When they go outside depending on tactile walking surface indicators, they have to follow them. They cannot plan their walking routes for themselves in unknown places. It is impossible for them to walk around various places such as shopping malls and station concourses as sighted persons, which is indispensable to enjoy their daily life. In this work, we propose a method which supports visually handicapped people to visit and walk around in their unknown places. We use RFID technologies to achieve voice navigation with the direction to their destination from their current location and their moving direction. To verify effectiveness of our system, we navigate blindfolded people experimentally. In the experiment, we have confirmed the success rate is 81% Keywords-RFID; Visually handicapped; Navigation; Sensor;