Dear all Access Indians, A research group at the University of Alicante in Spain has developed an application for smartphones designed for the blind to overcome aerial obstacles such as branches or awnings, which cannot be managed with the help of guide-dogs or walking-sticks. This software has been awarded a prize by the Vodafone Foundation. The application, which emerged from the project Deteccion de Obstaculos Aereos-DOA (Aerial Obstacle Detection) has been developed by the University of Alicante's research group in Mobile Vision Research Lab directed by a three-member Spanish team. The firm Neosistec has also participated in its development. The system uses a stereo-camera in some mobile devices to detect the proximity of obstacles in the way of the user. It has a friendly interface, which can be noticed by vibrations or the sound of upcoming obstacle. The alert becomes more frequent as the user approaches the obstacles. The software is integrated into a smartphone, which is comf ortable and unobtrusive to the user. This technology has been protected by the patent. This application is comfortable and unobtrusive and easy to use. It's used as a complement, not a substitute for walking-sticks or guide-dogs, but solving the main limitations: the inability to detect the aerial obstacles since the dogs can't be trained to be aware of the difference in height between themselves and blind persons they are guiding. The invention is able to warn of obstacles (through the phone-speakers, not through the headphones) or vibrations, making the system even more discreet, since only the user perceives information and doesn't deprive him or her of hearing, the blind's primary sense. Among the devices eligible to be used, we find the so-called three-D phones, equipped with dual front camera, or any mobile phones with single camera that incorporates a system to obtain two environmental observations separately. The application also leverages data from some common sensors in th em, such as magnetometer and accelerometer. The creators of this system point out that this technology is extremely innovative in the world of mobile phones, since they were not able to take real measures on the environments so far, while this application extracts around 30,000 measurements per frame, at the rate of 9 frames per second. This technology has been awarded a prize by the Vodafone Foundation in the seventh edition of its innovative awards, in the category of Mobile for Good Apps. In my view, despite the inventions of new smartphone technology come in handy for blind people like us, we are faced with uphill task of making astronomical investments on all new gadgets that capture our imaginations. We desperately need a wholesome smartphone software to alert us of terrestrial obstacles as well as aerial obstacles, our dreams can never come true until our practical wishes are addressed spot-on. Don't we?
"It's better to prepare and prevent than to repair and repent." Ezra Taft Benson. Warm regards. David Richards. Sent from my Nokia phone Register at the dedicated AccessIndia list for discussing accessibility of mobile phones / Tabs on: http://mail.accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/mobile.accessindia_accessindia.org.in Search for old postings at: http://www.mail-archive.com/accessindia@accessindia.org.in/ To unsubscribe send a message to accessindia-requ...@accessindia.org.in with the subject unsubscribe. To change your subscription to digest mode or make any other changes, please visit the list home page at http://accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/accessindia_accessindia.org.in Disclaimer: 1. Contents of the mails, factual, or otherwise, reflect the thinking of the person sending the mail and AI in no way relates itself to its veracity; 2. AI cannot be held liable for any commission/omission based on the mails sent through this mailing list..
