Pedestrian navigation system using tone gradient and robotic GIS

Abstract

In this study, we propose a new type of pedestrian navigation system for the visually impaired, and which uses "grid maps of accumulated costs" and "tone gradient" techniques. And, we developed the navigation system using a platform called "The RT-middleware". The developed system was demonstrated at an exhibition of welfare equipments and devices in Japan. And more, we conducted an experiment to evaluate our method for navigation. The results of the experiment suggested that our method was more comprehensible than a method using the oral explanations. And, the results also suggested that the pedestrians felt safer during walk with our method than the oral explanation method. © 2010 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.