Literature research
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Research question
Types of adaptive technologies or assistive equipment that can be implemented to improve the riding experience of those suffering from Stargardt disease. What assistive equipment can be implemented to improve the biking experience in urban areas of those who have Stargardt disease?
Research purpose
For this research, we want to gain knowledge on the Stargardt disease; when and how people get the disease, what people with the disease are experiencing, how the disease develops, how people with the disease can be helped, what impact it has on people, and more. We want to get insight into blindness and visual impairment in general; what is challenging for these people, and how some environments and products are adapted for people with visual impairment, what daily tasks cannot be done because of this, if there are products and tools that help people that are visually impaired. We want to know how far environments and products are inclusive for visually impaired people.
Results
From the first article we could devide several excisting solutions for people with visual impairment:
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Metranaut: Utilizes bar code labels at strategic locations to assist with campus navigation. Users can scan these labels with a bar code reader to obtain location-specific information.
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Wearable Sensors: Developed by Golding and Lesh, these sensors include a 3D accelerometer, magnetometer, light detector, and temperature sensor. They provide orientation data without modifying the environment.
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GPS-based Systems: Includes solutions like BrailleNote GPS and MoBic, which use GPS technology to determine the user's location outdoors and provide navigation assistance.
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Computer Vision: Uses image processing techniques to recognize landmarks and guide navigation based on these visual cues.
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Drishti: An integrated navigation system that allows seamless transitions between indoor and outdoor environments using vocal commands. It offers real-time guidance and information to visually impaired users.
From the second article there are several excisting solutions for people with visual impairment as well:
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Haptic Wristband with Computer Vision Integration: The proposed system combines a haptic wristband with computer vision algorithms. The wristband uses vibrations to guide visually impaired users towards nearby objects based on real-time object detection and hand tracking from camera input.
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Real-time Object Detection and Hand Tracking: Computer vision algorithms are used to detect objects in the user's surroundings and track the user's hand movements relative to these objects. This information is then translated into directional haptic feedback on the wristband.
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Usability Testing and Case Studies: The effectiveness of the system is validated through usability testing and case studies. These studies involve tasks such as guiding hand movements on a vertical surface and assisting in picking up objects from a table, demonstrating the practical utility of the proposed approach.
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System Architecture: The system architecture includes a depth-sensing camera, object detection algorithms, and custom haptic wristband hardware with vibrating motors. The camera captures live video, which is processed by computer vision algorithms to provide real-time feedback via the wristband.
