Create an app to improve the spatial orientation of people with visual disabilities

Create an app to improve the spatial orientation of people with visual disabilities

The application expands in real time the information about the physical context in which people move through vibrations, sounds or audio indications

  Researchers at the Center for Biomedical Technology of the Polytechnic University of Madrid (UPM) are working on the development of a new application of augmented reality to improve the spatial orientation of people with visual impairment, through vibrations and sounds on your mobile phone.

  Known as the 'e-Glance' project, the 'app' facilitates adaptation to the workplace and its integration into the workplace, by being able to easily perform tasks such as planning a route in the midst of multiple mobile obstacles or obtaining information on location and identification. of people and objects at a distance.

This tool is part of the Indra-Adecco Foundation Research Chair in Accessible Technologies and seeks to help people with visual disabilities to actively explore what is around them as if it were a "long stick".

To do this, it offers information equivalent to what is called peripheral vision, thanks to real-time alerts about events that occur in the environment, beyond the main focus of attention. And thanks to the virtualization of spaces and situations, the 'app' makes it possible to know virtually a space before visiting it physically.

   With the aim of expanding the knowledge on possible uses of this solution and analyzing how to effectively integrate it into the labor market, the project counts on the participation of the users and main beneficiaries, in particular, of the Center for Research and Development of Tiflotécnicas Applications (CIDAT) of the National Organization of the Blind of Spain (ONCE).

The 'app' expands in real time the information about the physical context in which people move through vibrations, sounds or audio indications that facilitate decision making on their movements or on the place to direct their attention.

And although it works through a 'smartphone', to facilitate its use is planned to use the cane that blind people use in their day to day to send and receive instructions from your mobile phone, making light movements with your hand. Additionally, we will try to extend this use beyond 'e-Glance' to have a greater number of functions controlled by the user in this way.

The functionality of the first prototype has already been tested by users in a pilot phase, with several objects located in a diaphanous room, and in a second phase it will be tested in real situations. For this, it will be necessary to deploy a network of sensors that allow locating people and objects in real time and to virtually reflect their location on a fixed scenario, indicating their location, volume and form, as well as other data related to their activity and operation.

Finally, the augmented reality technology developed to offer the user information on variations and significant movements within their field of perception at the time they occur will be tested.

In addition to its use in the workplace, the 'app' can be used in other environments such as hotels, shopping centers, train stations, and so on. In this case, the possibility of providing the user with greater prior knowledge of the place can be key when it comes to improving their movement in a space that has not previously visited.

And because of its ability to integrate contextual or environmental information, 'e-Glance' could be adapted to help people with another type of disability, such as auditory or cognitive.