Walking support for visually impaired using ar/mr and virtual braille block

Abstract

In recent years, the number of visually impaired people has been increasing, and supporting the movement of visually impaired people will be indispensable for the future society. At present, for visually impaired people, a general-purpose walking support is a combination of a braille block and a white cane; however, it is not enough. In this research, we provide a system that expands the above combination by utilizing the technologies of a see-through head-mounted display (HMD) and Augmented Reality/Mixed Reality (AR/MR). Specifically, utilizing the features of AR/MR, a virtual 3D object is projected as a braille block (virtual braille block) on the walking surface of visually impaired people via an HMD. Subsequently, when the white cane waved by visually impaired people and the virtual braille block intersect (collision), the guidance of forwarding, left, right, and turn is returned as feedback by voice and vibration. By realizing these, the goal is to provide a system that enables visually impaired people to move freely in the walking space.