Research Article
One-Shot Wayfinding Method for Blind People via OCR and Arrow Analysis with a 360-Degree Smartphone Camera
@INPROCEEDINGS{10.1007/978-3-030-94822-1_9, author={Yutaro Yamanaka and Seita Kayukawa and Hironobu Takagi and Yuichi Nagaoka and Yoshimune Hiratsuka and Satoshi Kurihara}, title={One-Shot Wayfinding Method for Blind People via OCR and Arrow Analysis with a 360-Degree Smartphone Camera}, proceedings={Mobile and Ubiquitous Systems: Computing, Networking and Services. 18th EAI International Conference, MobiQuitous 2021, Virtual Event, November 8-11, 2021, Proceedings}, proceedings_a={MOBIQUITOUS}, year={2022}, month={2}, keywords={Visual impairment Signage OCR Arrow detection}, doi={10.1007/978-3-030-94822-1_9} }- Yutaro Yamanaka
Seita Kayukawa
Hironobu Takagi
Yuichi Nagaoka
Yoshimune Hiratsuka
Satoshi Kurihara
Year: 2022
One-Shot Wayfinding Method for Blind People via OCR and Arrow Analysis with a 360-Degree Smartphone Camera
MOBIQUITOUS
Springer
DOI: 10.1007/978-3-030-94822-1_9
Abstract
We present a wayfinding method that assists blind people in determining the correct direction to a destination by taking aone-shotimage. Signage is standard in public buildings and used to help visitors, but has little benefit for blind people. Ourone-shot wayfinding methodrecognizes surrounding signage in all directions from an equirectangular image captured using a 360-degree smartphone camera. The method analyzes the relationship between detected text and arrows on signage and estimates the correct direction toward the user’s destination. In other words, the method enables wayfinding for the blind without requiring either environmental modifications (e.g.Bluetooth beacons) or preparation of map data. In a user study, we compared our method with a baseline method: a signage reader using a smartphone camera with a standard field of view. We found that our method enabled the participants to decide directions more efficiently than with the baseline method.
