Sensors 2017, 17(8), 1890; https://doi.org/10.3390/s17081890
Detecting Traversable Area and Water Hazards for the Visually Impaired with a pRGB-D Sensor
College of Optical Science and Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, China
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Received: 9 July 2017 / Revised: 6 August 2017 / Accepted: 11 August 2017 / Published: 17 August 2017
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Imaging Depth Sensors—Sensors, Algorithms and Applications)
Abstract
The use of RGB-Depth (RGB-D) sensors for assisting visually impaired people (VIP) has been widely reported as they offer portability, function-diversity and cost-effectiveness. However, polarization cues to assist traversability awareness without precautions against stepping into water areas are weak. In this paper, a polarized RGB-Depth (pRGB-D) framework is proposed to detect traversable area and water hazards simultaneously with polarization-color-depth-attitude information to enhance safety during navigation. The approach has been tested on a pRGB-D dataset, which is built for tuning parameters and evaluating the performance. Moreover, the approach has been integrated into a wearable prototype which generates a stereo sound feedback to guide visually impaired people (VIP) follow the prioritized direction to avoid obstacles and water hazards. Furthermore, a preliminary study with ten blindfolded participants suggests its effectivity and reliability. View Full-TextKeywords:
traversable area detection; water hazard detection; RGB-D sensor; polarized stereo; ZED; visually impaired people
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Yang, K.; Wang, K.; Cheng, R.; Hu, W.; Huang, X.; Bai, J. Detecting Traversable Area and Water Hazards for the Visually Impaired with a pRGB-D Sensor. Sensors 2017, 17, 1890.
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