Robotic White Cane for Assistive Navigation

Article: NIH-funded modern “white cane” brings navigation assistance to the 21st century
Source: National Eye Institute
Published: September 8, 2021
Article: NIH-funded modern “white cane” brings navigation assistance to the 21st century
Source: Virginia Commonwealth University
Published: September 13, 2021

Lead researcher Cang Ye with a prototype
of the robotic white cane

Although many advances have been made in navigation assistive devices for the blind and visually impaired, the white cane remains the most functional and reliable navigation tool for most people who are visually impaired. A project co-funded by the National Institutes of Health’s National Eye Institute (NEI) and the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB) sought to improve upon this century-old technology with modern electronics. As the lead author of the study explains, while GPS-based applications have revolutionized navigation in outdoor settings, helping the blind find their way around in large spaces inside buildings can present challenges, a gap he hopes to close through his robotic white cane. These improvements include the integration of a color 3D camera, an inertial measurement sensor, and an on-board computer, whose software can be paired with a building’s architectural blueprints or floorplans to guide users to destinations using auditory and sensory cues. The color depth camera, in particular, uses infrared light (similar to the front-facing camera of most smartphones) to determine the distance between the user and other physical objects. This information is processed by the onboard computer, which then maps the user's location onto the building's architectural drawings to alert the user to obstacles. The project lead adds, “The rolling tip on our robotic cane can guide you to turn at just the right point and exactly the right number of degrees, whether it’s 15 degrees or 90. This version can also alert you to overhanging obstacles, which a standard white cane cannot.” The robotic white cane is still in development to slim down some of its features for regular use. Nonetheless, the ability to switch between the automated mode and the simpler, non-robotic mode could provide additional independence for people who are blind or visually impaired without losing the time-tested attributes of the traditional white cane.

My rating of this study: ⭐⭐

Zhang H, Jin L, Ye C, et al. "An RGB-D Camera Based Visual Positioning System for Assistive Navigation by a Robotic Navigation Aid." IEEE/CAA Journal of Automatica Sinica.  8(8):1389-1400. August 2021. https://doi.org/10.1109/JAS.2021.1004084