Contribution of augmented reality solutions to assist visually impaired people in their mobility

Abstract

The study is dedicated to analyze opportunities of augmented reality eyewear solutions for visually impaired people in a context of mobility. In order to perfectly understand the needs of low vision individuals, their expectation towards visual aids, and to clearly define crucial requirements, an experimental study has been carried out in a re-adaptation clinic. 58 patients with different visual pathologies have been carefully selected by vision-care professionals. During experiments and interviews, professional techniques developed for teaching patients to efficiently use their visual residual capabilities have been analyzed. One of the main objectives was to show the usefulness and the importance to put in the loop all actors to be able to derive relevant knowledge essential to success in the design and in the development of new visual aids dedicated to facilitate mobility of low vision people. The first results are encouraging and they tend to demonstrate the interest to use embedded augmented reality systems in order to propose helpful solutions easily adaptable to the specificities of the different visual troubles affecting mobility. © 2014 Springer International Publishing.