Corridor-Walker: Mobile Indoor Walking Assistance for Blind People to Avoid Obstacles and Recognize Intersections

Masaki Kuribayashi, Seita Kayukawa, Jayakorn Vongkulbhisal, Chieko Asakawa, Daisuke Sato, Hironobu Takagi, Shigeo Morishima

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

6 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Navigating in an indoor corridor can be challenging for blind people as they have to be aware of obstacles while also having to recognize the intersections that lead to the destination. To aid blind people in such tasks, we propose Corridor-Walker, a smartphone-based system that assists blind people to avoid obstacles and recognize intersections. The system uses a LiDAR sensor equipped with a smartphone to construct a 2D occupancy grid map of the surrounding environment. Then, the system generates an obstacle-avoiding path and detects upcoming intersections on the grid map. Finally, the system navigates the user to trace the generated path and notifes the user of each intersection’s existence and the shape using vibration and audio feedback. A user study with 14 blind participants revealed that Corridor-Walker allowed participants to avoid obstacles, rely less on the wall to walk straight, and enable them to recognize intersections.

Original languageEnglish
Article number179
JournalProceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction
Volume6
Issue numberMHCI
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2022 Sept 20

Keywords

  • intersection detection
  • obstacle avoidance
  • orientation and mobility
  • visual impairment

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Social Sciences (miscellaneous)
  • Human-Computer Interaction
  • Computer Networks and Communications

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