title: A Virtual Blind Cane Using a Line Laser-Based Vision System and an Inertial Measurement Unit.
abstract: A virtual blind cane system for indoor application, including a camera, a line laser and an inertial measurement unit (IMU), is proposed in this paper. Working as a blind cane, the proposed system helps a blind person find the type of obstacle and the distance to it. The distance from the user to the obstacle is estimated by extracting the laser coordinate points on the obstacle, as well as tracking the system pointing angle. The paper provides a simple method to classify the obstacle's type by analyzing the laser intersection histogram. Real experimental results are presented to show the validity and accuracy of the proposed system.
authors.affiliation: Department of Electrical Engineering, University of Ulsan, Namgu, Ulsan 680-749, Korea. khanhdq8689@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Quoc Khanh
authors.initials: QK
authors.lastname: Dang
authors.affiliation: Department of Electrical Engineering, University of Ulsan, Namgu, Ulsan 680-749, Korea. yjchee@ulsan.ac.kr.
authors.forename: Youngjoon
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Chee
authors.affiliation: Department of Electrical Engineering, University of Ulsan, Namgu, Ulsan 680-749, Korea. duyduongd2@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Duy Duong
authors.initials: DD
authors.lastname: Pham
authors.affiliation: Department of Electrical Engineering, University of Ulsan, Namgu, Ulsan 680-749, Korea. yssuh@ulsan.ac.kr.
authors.forename: Young Soo
authors.initials: YS
authors.lastname: Suh
mesh_terms: D000465:Algorithms; D002183:Canes; D004867:Equipment Design; D006801:Humans; D018670:Monitoring, Ambulatory / Q000295:instrumentation*; D012815:Signal Processing, Computer-Assisted; D014584:User-Computer Interface; D019987:Persons with Visual Disabilities / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D016138:Walking / Q000502:physiology
keywords: Kalman filter; assisting system; blind; inertial sensor; virtual cane