Smart Glasses for Sign Reading as Mobility Aids for the Blind Using a Light Communication System

Abstract

© 2020 IEEE. Vision impairment directly impacts the quality of life since the absence of vision limits proficiency i n various activities, especially those that require mobility. Mobility aid tools can provide useful information for movement and orientation. Many assistive tools have previously been proposed to serve obstacle detection, traffic pattern interpretation, and orientation assistance. However, many of these appliances are expensive and complex since they usually require high computational cost from image processing, obstacle detection, virtual reality, etc. In this work, we want to propose a design of a low cost and low complexity mobility aid platform. Our platform is composed of a pair of smart glasses and an illuminated sign. The light emit from the sign are modulated to issue warnings and instructions. The pair of smart glasses equipped with a photodetector is used as an optical signal receiver. This can interpret the sign and issue a warning through an earphone. Our objective is to make the system user-friendly. It is initially intended to be deployed in a school for the blind to facilitate the movement of the students within and between the buildings.