Researchers: this suitcase help blind people navigate airports
Scientists from Carnegie Mellon University (CMU is in Pittsburgh, USA) presented a new smart rolling suitcase, which could warn vision impaired users of impending collisions and together with a wayfinding smartphone app help blind people navigate through crowds in airports safely and independently. The new tech is called BBeep, as it sounds alarms when visually impaired users are headed for a collision with a pedestrian.
“BBeep uses pre-emptive sound notifications to help clear a path by alerting both the user and nearby pedestrians about the potential risk of collision. BBeep triggers notifications by tracking pedestrians, predicting their future position in real-time, and provides sound notifications only when it anticipates a future collision. We investigate how different types and timings of sound affect nearby pedestrian behavior. In our experiments, we found that sound emission timing has a significant impact on nearby pedestrian trajectories when compared to different sound types. Based on these findings, we performed a real-world user study at an international airport, where blind participants navigated with the suitcase in crowded areas. We observed that the proposed system significantly reduces the number of imminent collision” – the researchers says in the statement.
BBeep was successfully tested at Pittsburgh International Airport. "Despite recent efforts to improve accessibility, airport terminals remain challenging for people with visual impairments to navigate independently," said Chieko Asakawa, IBM Distinguished Service Professor in CMU's Robotics Institute and an IBM Fellow at IBM Research. Airport and airline personnel are available to help them get to departure gates, but they usually can't explore and use the terminal amenities as sighted people can.
The researchers also deployed NavCog, a smartphone-based app that employs Bluetooth beacons, at Pittsburgh International Airport. The app developed by CMU and IBM to help blind people navigate independently. As part of the project, the airport installed hundreds of Bluetooth beacons throughout the facility.
"Part of our commitment to the public includes making sure our airport works for everyone, particularly as we modernize our facility for the future," said Pittsburgh International Airport CEO Christina Cassotis. "We're proud to partner with such great researchers through Carnegie Mellon University. Having that world-class ingenuity reflected at our airport is emblematic of Pittsburgh's transformation."
The app gives audio directions to users. It relies on a map of the terminal that has been annotated with the locations of restrooms, restaurants, gates, entrances and ticketing counters.
The NavCog app for iPhone is available for free from the App Store and can be used at Pittsburgh International in the ticketing area of the landside terminal and in the concourses and center core of the airside terminal, the CMU website says.