Good for her, that's great. I tried the vOICe but found it difficult to
orientate myself according to it. Perhaps I should try again.
Hettie
On 2017/03/06 11:44 PM, Jacob Kruger wrote:
Going to sound nasty, but, FWIW, a while ago, a lady called Claire Cheskine - if remember her name correctly - used the vOICe on an android phone to navigate around London in the UK, in her wheelchair, since she could use it to locate landmarks, etc. etc.
Stay well
Jacob Kruger
Blind Biker
Skype: BlindZA
"Resistance is futile, but, acceptance is versatile..."
On 2017-03-06 20:34, Hettie wrote:
That was said tongue in the cheek I'll need different goodies to go to town on my own but one can dream.... Bad if you were used to being independent with guide dogs.
Hettie
On 2017/03/06 03:31 PM, Jacob Kruger wrote:
Hettie, you might be able to, but, you'd need to attach the handle to your wheelvhair on it's own somehow, making sure you attached it at the right sort of angle.
It would only warn you about obstacles, and, not about, for example, a drop-off, like a kerb, or a large crack in the pavement, etc., since it's designed to scan above knee height, etc.
The after-sight is an implementation of the vOICe that also offers an offline form of object recognition, face detection, and, if it's the full implementation - with the modified hardware that's still under development, then it also implements obstacle detection, etc., but, my current setup is just a stock raspberry pi 2, with the after-sight version of the raspbian operating system running, and, it might still be of some use, if you were prepared to work with the vOICe's soundscape renditions - although, you could turn off that feature and only use object recognition and face detection:
http://www.after-sight.com/software
You can work with it's menu system using a USB numpad if you don't have the modified hardware, which includes a turning dial control, etc.
Otherwise, the only thing there, besides the raspberry pi mini-computer unit, with the right software installed on it is that you need to attach a compatible form of webcam to the unit for input - while I do have a set of video camera sunglasses here that I use with it, I also have a relatively cheap generic webcam that I got hold of at the boksburg fleamarket that can work with it, that could quite easily be mounted onto a wheelchair as well, or something, but, that would just limit field of view to the wheelchair's facing direction, whereas I make use of what I call virtual vision when wearing the camera embedded in the sunglasses.
Stay well
Jacob Kruger
Blind Biker
Skype: BlindZA
"Resistance is futile, but, acceptance is versatile..."
On 2017-03-06 13:06, Hettie wrote:
Hi Jacob
Pity I can't use that with my wheelchair, smiles.
Wat is the after-sight implementation on the raspberry pi mini-computer? Never heard of it.
Hettie
On 2017/03/06 10:25 AM, Jacob Kruger wrote:
Last week, I went to a form of presentation they held at the orientation and mobility training division at guide dogs, here in Johannesburg.
The presentation was primarily related to the smart cane, which is a form of radar device implemented in a white cane handle:
http://smartcane.saksham.org/overview/
Specifically, it's designed to detect obstructions above ground level, in order to possibly warn you about things the tip of your white cane, etc. wouldn't have come into contact with, and, it apparently uses a scanning angle of something like 45 degrees - half of a right angle - with both the source of the radar, and, the sensor implemented on the handle of the cane.
It also has two different distance modes - if remember correctly varying from 1.2m to 3.8m, with some different output modes as well, since it offers feedback via vibration, and the different output modes offer different levels of vibration intensity, and then also offer you a bit more feedback relating to battery recharging, etc.
You can also change the radar scanning angle between three levels, depending on your own height.
Not going to go into too much detail, but, I think it is available here in SA now, and you can probably get contact details from the guys at guide dogs for the local suppliers.
However, will honestly say I have a couple of issues with the overall design.
Firstly, it's implemented as part of the handle of the white cane they provide, and, the longest cane they offer is roundabout 10cm shorter than my own standard cane length - and, since it's built into the cane's handle, while you can remove the handle from the cane, to either use it on it's own, or to switch it over to another cane, it means you can't really use the unit just on it's own, since, for example, you wouldn't be able to fasten it onto your wrist if you were holding your guide dog's harness handle on the other side too easily/cleanly.
Secondly, the cane they provide doesn't seem to be very sturdy/rugged - for example, I have replaced the standard elastic in all my cane's with the stronger elastic from makro's camping department, but, this cane seems somewhat loose, if that makes sense.
Along the lines of this, when doing something like changing the scanning angle of the radar, I am not sure this part of the design would necessarily last too long if you changed it's angle too often, partly since it needs to click into place.
Now, this is still a nice gadget, and, would be quite nice, but, they specified the price as basically being US$100, which, along with the things mentioned above means it's not something I myself would want to pay for, but, maybe that's since I already have quite a few other things I play around with, like the vOICe using both the android-phone implementation, which is free, as well as the after-sight implementation on the raspberry pi mini-computer.
But, just thought would mention this either way
Jacob Kruger
Blind Biker
Skype: BlindZA
"Resistance is futile, but, acceptance is versatile..."
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