Haptic Trajectory Interface for Visually Impaired Navigation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing navigation systems for visually impaired individuals and athletes lack the ability to provide simultaneous, accurate, and high-speed navigation information without relying on sight, hearing, or hands, failing to detect environmental obstacles not in the mapping and limiting the optimization of complex trajectories.
Innovation Solution
A trajectory construction interface that uses sensory feedback, environmental recognition, and real-time calculation to provide direction, distance, and speed information, allowing users to navigate complex environments by haptic and auditory means, including the detection of unmapped obstacles and dynamic environmental elements.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If traditional navigation systems are used for visually impaired individuals, then basic directional guidance is provided, but accurate and comprehensive navigation information cannot be delivered simultaneously without relying on sight
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces traditional visual and auditory navigation interfaces with a haptic feedback system using tactile sensors and actuators. The system substitutes mechanical touch-based feedback for optical and acoustic fields, enabling visually impaired users to receive precise navigation information through skin sensation without relying on sight or hearing.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a haptic interface as an intermediary between the navigation system and the user. This intermediary translates complex navigation data into tactile sensations that the user can perceive through touch, bridging the gap between digital information and human perception without requiring visual or auditory processing.
2Measurement precision
If complex trajectory optimization is implemented for athletes, then trajectory precision is improved, but the system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the complex trajectory construction into discrete tactile feedback points along the desired path. Instead of providing continuous complex information, the system divides the trajectory into key positions that activate tactile sensors in sequence, simplifying the information processing while maintaining precision.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies local quality by providing differentiated tactile feedback at specific locations along the trajectory. Different body zones receive customized vibration patterns corresponding to their spatial position, enabling precise local navigation cues without requiring complex global system coordination.
3Reliability
If environmental recognition is enhanced to detect unmapped obstacles, then navigation reliability is improved, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements multi-functionality by using the same tactile sensor array for both guided navigation and obstacle detection. The sensor system serves dual purposes: providing directional guidance along predefined paths and detecting unmapped environmental obstacles, thereby improving reliability without proportionally increasing device complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent merges the navigation guidance function and obstacle detection function into a single integrated tactile feedback system. By combining these functions in one device, the system achieves enhanced reliability through comprehensive environmental awareness while avoiding the complexity of separate independent systems.
4Loss of information
If multiple sensory feedback channels are used simultaneously, then comprehensive navigation information is provided, but the ease of operation decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent transitions from two-dimensional visual or auditory information spaces to a three-dimensional tactile feedback dimension distributed across the user's body surface. This dimensional change allows comprehensive navigation information to be encoded in spatial patterns of vibration that the user can intuitively interpret through touch, maintaining simplicity while providing completeness.
Data Source
AI summary
An environment assembly and interface for constructing trajectory (1) in the environment, the trajectory construction interface (1) including a mapping (2a) of the environment, the environment including at least one object, wherein the trajectory construction interface (1) includes: a memory (2) in which is stored the mapping (2a); a system for real-time calculation (6); a system for determining position of a user (3); a system for determining real azimuth of the user (4); a system for indication by haptic stimulation of the position of the at least one object (7), said system for indication of the position of the at least one object (7) being controlled by the system for real-time calculation (6); and a system for indication by haptic stimulation of the actual azimuth of the at least one object (8), said system for indication of the actual azimuth being controlled by the means of real-time calculation (6).