An obstacle signaling system for the blind

Many commercial navigation aids suffer from a number of design flaws, the most important of which are related to the human interface that conveys information to the user. Aids for the visually impaired are lightweight electronic devices that are either incorporated into a long cane, hand-held or wo...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Calder, David
Other Authors: Ju-Jang Lee
Format: Conference Paper
Published: IEEE 2011
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/18434
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author Calder, David
author2 Ju-Jang Lee
author_facet Ju-Jang Lee
Calder, David
author_sort Calder, David
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description Many commercial navigation aids suffer from a number of design flaws, the most important of which are related to the human interface that conveys information to the user. Aids for the visually impaired are lightweight electronic devices that are either incorporated into a long cane, hand-held or worn by the client, warning of hazards ahead. Most aids use vibrating buttons or sound alerts to warn of upcoming obstacles, a method which is only capable of conveying very crude information regarding direction and proximity to the nearest object. Some of the more sophisticated devices use a complex audio interface in order to deliver more detailed information, but this often compromises the user’s hearing, a critical impairment for a blind user. The author has produced an original design and working prototype solution which is a major first step in addressing some of these faults found in current production models for the blind.
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spelling curtin-20.500.11937-184342023-01-27T05:26:31Z An obstacle signaling system for the blind Calder, David Ju-Jang Lee Marc Wilhelm Kuster long cane assistive technology blind user hazard warning displays sound interface displays Many commercial navigation aids suffer from a number of design flaws, the most important of which are related to the human interface that conveys information to the user. Aids for the visually impaired are lightweight electronic devices that are either incorporated into a long cane, hand-held or worn by the client, warning of hazards ahead. Most aids use vibrating buttons or sound alerts to warn of upcoming obstacles, a method which is only capable of conveying very crude information regarding direction and proximity to the nearest object. Some of the more sophisticated devices use a complex audio interface in order to deliver more detailed information, but this often compromises the user’s hearing, a critical impairment for a blind user. The author has produced an original design and working prototype solution which is a major first step in addressing some of these faults found in current production models for the blind. 2011 Conference Paper http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/18434 10.1109/DEST.2011.5936599 IEEE restricted
spellingShingle long cane
assistive technology
blind user
hazard warning displays
sound interface displays
Calder, David
An obstacle signaling system for the blind
title An obstacle signaling system for the blind
title_full An obstacle signaling system for the blind
title_fullStr An obstacle signaling system for the blind
title_full_unstemmed An obstacle signaling system for the blind
title_short An obstacle signaling system for the blind
title_sort obstacle signaling system for the blind
topic long cane
assistive technology
blind user
hazard warning displays
sound interface displays
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/18434