Thermal Imaging Aid for the Blind

Hedin, Daniel; Seifert, Gregory J.; Dagnelie, Gislin; Havey, Gary; Knuesel, Robert J.; Gibson, Paul

doi:10.1109/iembs.2006.259360

Cited by 8 publications

(5 citation statements)

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Researchers have developed prototypes where thermal imaging is paired with a haptic display as an aid for the blind [24] or used with the Argus II system in lieu of the visible-light camera [23,[25][26][27][28]. Subjectively, the users were 'uniformly fascinated by the device' [24] and 'thought it would indeed be very useful and would increase the daily use of the Argus II' [25]. Objectively, the users were able to use thermal imaging to complete tasks that involve detecting and locating heat-emitting targets [23][24][25][26][27][28], and the responses were faster and more accurate when compared to using a visible-light camera [25][26][27][28].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Subjectively, the users were 'uniformly fascinated by the device' [24] and 'thought it would indeed be very useful and would increase the daily use of the Argus II' [25]. Objectively, the users were able to use thermal imaging to complete tasks that involve detecting and locating heat-emitting targets [23][24][25][26][27][28], and the responses were faster and more accurate when compared to using a visible-light camera [25][26][27][28]. These findings have demonstrated the possibility of using thermal imaging to improve the functional vision of visual prosthesis wearers.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Improved mobility performance with an artificial vision therapy system using a thermal sensor

Sun

Roy

et al. 2020

J. Neural Eng.

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Objective. To evaluate the benefit of integrating thermal imaging into an artificial vision therapy system, the Argus II retinal prosthesis, in simplifying a complex scene and improving mobility performance in the presence of other persons. Approach. Four Argus II retinal implant users were evaluated on two tasks: to locate and approach target persons in a booth, and to navigate a hallway while avoiding people. They completed the tasks using both the original Argus II system (the ‘Argus II camera’) and a thermal-integrated Argus II system (the ‘thermal camera’). The safety and efficiency of their navigation were evaluated by their walking speed, navigation errors, and the number of collisions. Main results. Navigation performance was significantly superior when using the thermal camera compared to using the Argus II camera, including 75% smaller angle of deviation (p < 0.001), 48% smaller error of distance (p < 0.05), and 30% fewer collisions (p < 0.05). The thermal camera also brought the additional benefit of allowing the participants to perform the task in the dark as efficiently as in the light. More importantly, these benefits did not come at a cost of reduced walking speed. Significance. Using the thermal camera in the Argus II system, compared to a visible-light camera, could improve the wearers’ navigation performance by helping them better approach or avoid other persons. Adding the thermal camera to future artificial vision therapy systems may complement the visible-light camera and improve the users’ mobility safety and efficiency, enhancing their quality of life.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Improved mobility performance with an artificial vision therapy system using a thermal sensor

Sun

Roy

et al. 2020

J. Neural Eng.

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“…One of the markets driving commercial thermal imagining is the automotive market, where thermal imagining is used for pedestrian and car detection for increased security and collision avoidance [ 12 , 13 , 14 ]. However, there are other applications such as object inspection in construction [ 15 , 16 , 17 ], medicine [ 18 , 19 ], veterinary science [ 20 ], access control [ 21 ], agriculture [ 22 ], astronomy [ 23 , 24 ], gas leakage detection [ 25 , 26 ], inspection of solar panels [ 27 ], autonomous drone navigation [ 28 ], helping visually impaired subjects [ 29 ], and so on. While a more in-depth presentation of thermal imaging applications can be found in [ 2 , 30 ]; the application range is evident and diverse.…”

Section: Related Work and Contributionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Development of a Cost-Effective Imaging Device Based on Thermographic Technology

Stančić

Skelin

Musić

et al. 2023

Sensors

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Thermal vision-based devices are nowadays used in a number of industries, ranging from the automotive industry, surveillance, navigation, fire detection, and rescue missions to precision agriculture. This work describes the development of a low-cost imaging device based on thermographic technology. The proposed device uses a miniature microbolometer module, a 32-bit ARM microcontroller, and a high-accuracy ambient temperature sensor. The developed device is capable of enhancing RAW high dynamic thermal readings obtained from the sensor using a computationally efficient image enhancement algorithm and presenting its visual result on the integrated OLED display. The choice of microcontroller, rather than the alternative System on Chip (SoC), offers almost instantaneous power uptime and extremely low power consumption while providing real-time imaging of an environment. The implemented image enhancement algorithm employs the modified histogram equalization, where the ambient temperature sensor helps the algorithm enhance both background objects near ambient temperature and foreground objects (humans, animals, and other heat sources) that actively emit heat. The proposed imaging device was evaluated on a number of environmental scenarios using standard no-reference image quality measures and comparisons against the existing state-of-the-art enhancement algorithms. Qualitative results obtained from the survey of 11 subjects are also provided. The quantitative evaluations show that, on average, images acquired by the developed camera provide better perception quality in 75% of tested cases. According to qualitative evaluations, images acquired by the developed camera provide better perception quality in 69% of tested cases. The obtained results verify the usability of the developed low-cost device for a range of applications where thermal imaging is needed.

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“…This reduced set of information is potentially useful to a visually-impaired person for interaction and navigation while allowing easier interpretation relative to other imaging technology. Pilot studies by Hedin et al [3] suggested the feasibility and utility of scanning space in with a far-infrared sensitive thermal camera and converting portions to a thin tactile array. In this set of experiments, we tested the efficacy of a handheld scanning device that mapped far-infrared images onto a vertically oriented 4x24 tactile pin array for the purpose of locating people in space.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Resolving subjects and measuring observer/subject distances with a thermal tactile imager

David

Riehle

Solinsky³

et al. 2008

2008 30th Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society

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Visually-impaired people have difficulty detecting objects beyond the reach of a cane. We functionally coupled a far-infrared camera to a linear array of tactile elements to create a thermal tactile viewer that enhances environmental awareness. Users may scan such a device across a scene to spatially locate people. We observed in a series of acuity-measuring tasks, at twenty feet of observer/subject separation, observers could resolve two people standing four inches apart (a separation angle of 1 degrees ) and locate the angular position of people within a room with 78% accuracy. Additionally, when employing a technique involving two sweeps from two observation points separated by approximately an arm span, subjects correctly reported observer/subject separation distance with 60% accuracy. These observations suggest the technique of information transfer provided by a thermal tactile viewing device provides the fundamental acuity required for an assistive locating device.

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Thermal Imaging Aid for the Blind

Cited by 8 publications

References 0 publications

Improved mobility performance with an artificial vision therapy system using a thermal sensor

Improved mobility performance with an artificial vision therapy system using a thermal sensor

The Development of a Cost-Effective Imaging Device Based on Thermographic Technology

Resolving subjects and measuring observer/subject distances with a thermal tactile imager

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