Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, NYU Langone Health, New York, NY, USA.
Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, NYU Tandon School of Engineering, New York, NY, USA.
Trials. 2023 Mar 7;24(1):169. doi: 10.1186/s13063-023-07173-8.
Blind/low vision (BLV) severely limits information about our three-dimensional world, leading to poor spatial cognition and impaired navigation. BLV engenders mobility losses, debility, illness, and premature mortality. These mobility losses have been associated with unemployment and severe compromises in quality of life. VI not only eviscerates mobility and safety but also, creates barriers to inclusive higher education. Although true in almost every high-income country, these startling facts are even more severe in low- and middle-income countries, such as Thailand. We aim to use VISION (Visually Impaired Smart Service System for Spatial Intelligence and Onboard Navigation), an advanced wearable technology, to enable real-time access to microservices, providing a potential solution to close this gap and deliver consistent and reliable access to critical spatial information needed for mobility and orientation during navigation.
We are leveraging 3D reconstruction and semantic segmentation techniques to create a digital twin of the campus that houses Mahidol University's disability college. We will do cross-over randomization, and two groups of randomized VI students will deploy this augmented platform in two phases: a passive phase, during which the wearable will only record location, and an active phase, in which end users receive orientation cueing during location recording. A group will perform the active phase first, then the passive, and the other group will experiment reciprocally. We will assess for acceptability, appropriateness, and feasibility, focusing on experiences with VISION. In addition, we will test another cohort of students for navigational, health, and well-being improvements, comparing weeks 1 to 4. We will also conduct a process evaluation according to the Saunders Framework. Finally, we will extend our computer vision and digital twinning technique to a 12-block spatial grid in Bangkok, providing aid in a more complex environment.
Although electronic navigation aids seem like an attractive solution, there are several barriers to their use; chief among them is their dependence on either environmental (sensor-based) infrastructure or WiFi/cell "connectivity" infrastructure or both. These barriers limit their widespread adoption, particularly in low-and-middle-income countries. Here we propose a navigation solution that operates independently of both environmental and Wi-Fi/cell infrastructure. We predict the proposed platform supports spatial cognition in BLV populations, augmenting personal freedom and agency, and promoting health and well-being.
ClinicalTrials.gov under the identifier: NCT03174314, Registered 2017.06.02.
盲/低视力（BLV）严重限制了我们对三维世界的信息获取，导致空间认知能力差和导航能力受损。BLV 导致行动不便、虚弱、患病和早逝。这些行动不便与失业以及生活质量的严重恶化有关。视觉障碍不仅破坏了行动和安全，而且还为包容性高等教育制造了障碍。尽管在几乎所有高收入国家都是如此，但在泰国等中低收入国家，这些惊人的事实更为严重。我们旨在使用 VISION（用于空间智能和 onboard 导航的视障智能服务系统），一种先进的可穿戴技术，实时访问微服务，为缩小这一差距提供潜在解决方案，并为导航期间行动和方向所需的关键空间信息提供一致和可靠的访问。
我们正在利用 3D 重建和语义分割技术，为 Mahidol 大学残疾学院所在的校园创建一个数字孪生。我们将进行交叉随机分组，两组随机分配的 VI 学生将在两个阶段部署这个增强平台：被动阶段，在此期间，可穿戴设备仅记录位置，主动阶段，在此期间，最终用户在记录位置时接收定向提示。一组将首先进行主动阶段，然后是被动阶段，另一组将反过来进行实验。我们将评估可接受性、适当性和可行性，重点是 VISION 的体验。此外，我们将对另一组学生进行导航、健康和幸福感的改善测试，比较第 1 周到第 4 周。我们还将根据 Saunders 框架进行过程评估。最后，我们将把我们的计算机视觉和数字孪生技术扩展到曼谷的一个 12 街区的空间网格，在更复杂的环境中提供帮助。
尽管电子导航辅助设备似乎是一个有吸引力的解决方案，但它们的使用存在几个障碍；其中最重要的是它们要么依赖环境（基于传感器的）基础设施，要么依赖 WiFi/蜂窝“连接”基础设施，要么两者都依赖。这些障碍限制了它们的广泛采用，特别是在中低收入国家。在这里，我们提出了一种独立于环境和 Wi-Fi/蜂窝基础设施的导航解决方案。我们预测，所提出的平台支持 BLV 人群的空间认知，增强个人自由和代理权，并促进健康和幸福感。
ClinicalTrials.gov 标识符：NCT03174314，注册于 2017.06.02。
