ABSTRACT

Given the growth in the numbers of visually impaired (VI) people in low-income countries, the development of affordable electronic travel aid (ETA) systems employing devices, sensors, and apps embedded in ordinary smartphones becomes a potentially cost-effective and reasonable all-in-one solution of utmost importance for the VI. This paper offers an overview of recent ETA research prototypes that employ smartphones for assisted orientation and navigation in indoor and outdoor spaces by providing additional information about the surrounding objects. Scientific achievements in the field were systematically reviewed using PRISMA methodology. Comparative meta-analysis showed how various smartphone-based ETA prototypes could assist with better orientation, navigation, and wayfinding in indoor and outdoor environments. The analysis found limited interest among researchers in combining haptic interfaces and computer vision capabilities in smartphone-based ETAs for the blind, few attempts to employ novel state-of-the-art computer vision methods based on deep neural networks, and no evaluations of existing off-the-shelf navigation solutions. These results were contrasted with findings from a survey of blind expert users on their problems in navigating in indoor and outdoor environments. This revealed a major mismatch between user needs and academic development in the field.

摘要

鉴于低收入国家视障 (VI) 人数的增长，使用嵌入普通智能手机的设备、传感器和应用程序开发负担得起的电子旅行辅助 (ETA) 系统成为一种具有潜在成本效益且合理的方法。对 VI 至关重要的一体式解决方案。本文概述了最近的 ETA 研究原型，这些原型利用智能手机通过提供有关周围物体的附加信息在室内和室外空间进行辅助定位和导航。使用 PRISMA 方法系统地审查了该领域的科学成就。比较荟萃分析显示了各种基于智能手机的 ETA 原型如何帮助在室内和室外环境中更好地定位、导航和寻路。分析发现，研究人员对在基于智能手机的盲人 ETA 中结合触觉界面和计算机视觉功能的兴趣有限，很少尝试采用基于深度神经网络的新型最先进的计算机视觉方法，并且没有评估现有的现成的导航解决方案。这些结果与盲人专家用户在室内和室外环境中导航问题的调查结果形成鲜明对比。这揭示了用户需求与该领域的学术发展之间的严重不匹配。这些结果与盲人专家用户在室内和室外环境中导航问题的调查结果形成鲜明对比。这揭示了用户需求与该领域的学术发展之间的严重不匹配。这些结果与盲人专家用户在室内和室外环境中导航问题的调查结果形成鲜明对比。这揭示了用户需求与该领域的学术发展之间的严重不匹配。