Remote Movement Guidance for Visually Impaired Users
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Solution Overview
Problem
Visually impaired individuals face challenges participating in various activities due to reliance on others or restricted movement caused by limitations in obstacle detection and environmental awareness, which current guidance methods like canes and guide dogs cannot fully address.
Innovation Solution
A user-guidance system comprising a remote control device that transmits movement signals to cooperative actuators worn by the user, providing haptic instructions for physical movements, allowing for real-time guidance in both vertical and horizontal directions, enabling participation in activities that would otherwise be difficult or impossible.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If a visually impaired person uses a cane for obstacle detection, then awareness of immediate obstacles is improved, but movement pace and scope are restricted due to reliance on immediate vicinity awareness only
Solution Approach 1:
The patent transitions from local tactile obstacle detection (cane tip level) to remote visual/environmental sensing (camera and sensor level), adding a spatial dimension to awareness. The remote control device captures environmental data from distances beyond immediate vicinity, projecting this information to guide movement at normal paces without constant tactile scanning.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a remote control device with cameras and sensors as an intermediary between the visually impaired person and the environment. This intermediary captures environmental information and translates it into guidance signals, replacing the direct tactile interaction with a cane and enabling faster, more confident movement without compromising safety.
2Loss of information
If a visually impaired person relies on others for guidance, then environmental awareness is improved, but independence and mobility freedom deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent enables self-service by providing the visually impaired person with their own remote control device containing cameras and sensors. The device independently captures environmental information and processes guidance signals without requiring another person's assistance, granting full independence while maintaining comprehensive environmental awareness.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the mechanical/social system of human guidance with an electronic sensing and communication system. The remote control device with cameras, sensors, and signal processing substitutes the need for a human guide, providing environmental awareness through technological means rather than human interaction.
3Ease of operation
If a visually impaired person uses a guide-dog for navigation, then reliance on others is reduced, but movement scope is limited by the guide-dog's training and familiar settings
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a universal guidance system through the remote control device that functions across all environments without requiring specific training or adaptation. The electronic sensors and cameras provide consistent environmental data regardless of location, enabling the user to navigate familiar and unfamiliar settings with the same level of independence and confidence.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the operational parameters from biological constraints (guide-dog's training limits, familiar settings only) to electronic capabilities (sensor range, camera field of view, processing speed). This parameter transformation removes environmental restrictions, allowing navigation in diverse settings including unfamiliar ones without retraining or adaptation.
4Reliability
If movement guidance is provided step-by-step for immediate obstacles, then safety is improved, but movement scope and pace are cautiously limited
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements preliminary action by having the remote control device continuously capture and process environmental information ahead of the user's movement. The system proactively identifies obstacles and calculates guidance signals in advance, allowing the user to move at normal paces while safety is maintained through pre-computed navigation guidance rather than reactive step-by-step instructions.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Enables visually impaired individuals to engage in a wider range of activities with increased mobility and independence by providing timely and accurate movement guidance, reducing reliance on others and expanding the scope and pace of physical movements.
Implementation Method 1
cooperative actuators that may be configured to be worn by the user to translate the movement signals received from the remote control into haptic instructions
Data Source
AI summary
In one example of a user-guidance system, a remote control may be configured to guide a user's physical movements by transmitting movement signals that are to be translated into haptic instructions, and cooperative actuators may be configured to be worn by the user to translate the movement signals received from the remote control into the haptic instructions. The movement signals may be translated into the haptic instructions for physical movements of any limb or extremity of the user in either of a vertical direction or a horizontal direction; after the first movement signal, the movement signals may be transmitted prior to completion of an immediately previous physical movement; and the movement signals may include horizontal and vertical directional signal components that indicate the horizontal and vertical direction for the user's next physical movement. The haptic instructions that are translated from the horizontal and vertical directional signal components may differ in either duration or magnitude. The movement signals may include horizontal directional signal components that indicate the horizontal direction for the user's next physical movement, and the haptic instructions that are translated from the horizontal directional signal components may differ in either duration or magnitude.