Safe and Efficient E-Wayfinding (SeeWay) Guidance for the Transition to Autonomous Vehicles for the Visually Impaired
Description: Independent travel for blind and visually impaired (BVI) individuals is essential for maximizing quality of life, by enabling travel to work and recreational activities. Leveraging autonomous vehicles, efficient and safe indoor-to outdoor navigational guidance has the potential to fill this gap for BVI travelers. The research team will start the project by studying and exploring the needs, wants, and concerns of BVI travelers between indoor environments (including home, school, work, etc.) and the locations where they will access future autonomous vehicles in each of those locations to allow for independent travel. The team will derive design criteria based upon a human factors analysis and the resulting models will guide the assistive navigation system development. Based on crowdsourcing and human-centered artificial intelligence (AI) frameworks, the team will explore state-of-the-art computer vision and AI-based environment recognition technologies to enable efficient navigational guidance and improve travel safety for BVI individuals. Intellectual Merit: The goal of the research is to enable Safe, Efficient and Electronic (E-) Wayfinding (SeeWay) guidance solutions for the transition to facilitate BVI individuals to access autonomous vehicles by exploring and developing a portable and affordable solution. Broader Impacts: Despite its challenges, independent travel for blind and visually impaired (BVI) individuals is an essential component of quality of life, enabling travel to work and recreational activities. Autonomous vehicle technologies have the potential of meeting these challenges. However, efficiently and safely guiding BVI travelers between indoor environments and vehicles outdoors remains a key obstacle. In the future transportation chain, assistive navigation technologies, connecting BVI travelers and vehicles, will be of extraordinary importance for BVI individuals in the context of social justice and health care/public health.
Language
- English
Project
- Status: Completed
- Funding: $94350
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Contract Numbers:
69A3551747117
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Sponsor Organizations:
Office of the Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology
University Transportation Centers Program
Department of Transportation
Washington, DC United States 20590Center for Connected Multimodal Mobility
Clemson University
Clemson, SC United States 29634Clemson University
216 Lowry Hall
Clemson, SC, SC United States 29634 1600 Harden Street
Columbia, South Carolina United States 29204 -
Managing Organizations:
Clemson University
110 Lowry Hall
Box 340911
Clemson, SC United States 29634-0911 -
Project Managers:
Li, Bing
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Performing Organizations:
Clemson University
110 Lowry Hall
Box 340911
Clemson, SC United States 29634-0911 1600 Harden Street
Columbia, South Carolina United States 29204 -
Principal Investigators:
Li, Bing
Comert, Gurcan
Brooks, Johnell
- Start Date: 20200915
- Expected Completion Date: 20220916
- Actual Completion Date: 0
- USDOT Program: University Transportation Centers
Subject/Index Terms
- TRT Terms: Artificial intelligence; Assistive technology; Autonomous vehicles; Visually impaired persons; Wayfinding
- Subject Areas: Highways; Pedestrians and Bicyclists; Safety and Human Factors; Vehicles and Equipment;
Filing Info
- Accession Number: 01838154
- Record Type: Research project
- Source Agency: Center for Connected Multimodal Mobility
- Contract Numbers: 69A3551747117
- Files: UTC, RIP
- Created Date: Mar 6 2022 1:49PM