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Design and Research of Intelligent Walking Aid Products for Visually Impaired Individuals

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HCI International 2023 – Late Breaking Papers (HCII 2023)

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Abstract

Background: According to the results of the second China Disability Sample Survey, there are about 12.33 million visually impaired people in China, and the number of visually impaired people is increasing year by year as China's society is aging. Therefore, it is becoming more and more urgent to solve their most basic travel problems. In the complex urban road environment, it becomes extremely difficult for visually impaired people to travel, not only by their own experience and sense of direction, but also by their efforts to identify various obstacles on the road through assistive devices. Traditional travel aids are mainly guide canes and guide dogs, but guide canes have many limitations for detecting obstacles, for example, obstacles above the chest are usually difficult to be detected, while guide dogs are very expensive to train and not suitable for general promotion. With the progress of sensors and computer technology, more and more intelligent products have entered the lives of visually impaired people, such as through wearable However, most of these products are not only expensive and very complicated to use, but also change the original habits of the blind and create a sense of resistance.

Aim: This paper focuses on exploring a travel assistance product that does not change the travel habits of visually impaired people and does not burden them psychologically, which not only provides timely feedback to visually impaired people about obstacles, but also protects their travel safety.

Methods: In this paper, we first analyzed the global smart travel products for visually impaired people, discussed the advantages and shortcomings of these products, and analyzed the living habits and behavioral characteristics of some visually impaired people by means of literature research and questionnaire survey, and based on the analysis results, we designed the smart mobility products, selected and installed suitable sensors, and programmed them. Finally, we tested the usability of the designed product in outdoor environment.

Conclusion: The test results show that the product design has certain usability and shortcomings, and further optimization is still needed in the future, but this design and research can provide reference advice for such smart product design.

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Correspondence to Huijuan Zhu .

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Zhu, H., Zhou, M. (2023). Design and Research of Intelligent Walking Aid Products for Visually Impaired Individuals. In: Gao, Q., Zhou, J., Duffy, V.G., Antona, M., Stephanidis, C. (eds) HCI International 2023 – Late Breaking Papers. HCII 2023. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 14055. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-48041-6_30

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-48041-6_30

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-031-48040-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-031-48041-6

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