Yang Anbang, Tamkittikhun Nattachart, Hamilton-Fletcher Giles, Ramdhanie Vinay, Vu Thu, Beheshti Mahya, Hudson Todd, Vedanthan Rajesh, Riewpaiboon Wachara, Mongkolwat Pattanasak, Feng Chen, Rizzo John-Ross
Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, NYU Tandon School of Engineering, Brooklyn, New York, USA.
Faculty of Information and Communication Technology, Mahidol University, Nakhon Pathom, Thailand.
Assist Technol. 2024 Aug 13:1-15. doi: 10.1080/10400435.2024.2382113.
UNav is a computer-vision-based localization and navigation aid that provides step-by-step route instructions to reach selected destinations without any infrastructure in both indoor and outdoor environments. Despite the initial literature highlighting UNav's potential, clinical efficacy has not yet been rigorously evaluated. Herein, we assess UNav against standard in-person travel directions (SIPTD) for persons with blindness or low vision (PBLV) in an ecologically valid environment using a non-inferiority design. Twenty BLV subjects (age = 38 ± 8.4; nine females) were recruited and asked to navigate to a variety of destinations, over short-range distances (<200 m), in unfamiliar spaces, using either UNav or SIPTD. Navigation performance was assessed with nine dependent variables to assess travel confidence, as well as spatial and temporal performances, including path efficiency, total time, and wrong turns. The results suggest that UNav is not only non-inferior to the standard-of-care in wayfinding (SIPTD) but also superior on 8 out of 9 metrics, as compared to SIPTD. This study highlights the range of benefits computer vision-based aids provide to PBLV in short-range navigation and provides key insights into how users benefit from this systematic form of computer-aided guidance, demonstrating transformative promise for educational attainment, gainful employment, and recreational participation.
UNav是一种基于计算机视觉的定位和导航辅助工具，可在室内和室外环境中无需任何基础设施的情况下提供前往选定目的地的逐步路线指示。尽管最初的文献强调了UNav的潜力，但其临床疗效尚未得到严格评估。在此，我们采用非劣效性设计，在生态有效环境中针对失明或视力低下者（PBLV）将UNav与标准的面对面旅行指示（SIPTD）进行比较评估。招募了20名视力低下受试者（年龄=38±8.4岁；9名女性），要求他们在不熟悉的空间中使用UNav或SIPTD，在短距离（<200米）内导航到各种目的地。通过九个因变量评估导航性能，以评估旅行信心以及空间和时间性能，包括路径效率、总时间和错误转弯次数。结果表明，UNav不仅在寻路方面不劣于护理标准（SIPTD），而且与SIPTD相比，在九个指标中的八个指标上更具优势。这项研究突出了基于计算机视觉的辅助工具在短距离导航中为PBLV带来的一系列益处，并提供了关于用户如何从这种系统形式的计算机辅助指导中受益的关键见解，展示了在教育成就、有收益的就业和娱乐参与方面的变革性前景。
