TY - JOUR
T1 - Virtual Guide Dog
T2 - Next-generation pedestrian signal for the visually impaired
AU - Zhong, Zijia
AU - Lee, Joyoung
N1 - Funding Information:
The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This work was supported in part by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. CMMI-1844238.
Funding Information:
The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This work was supported in part by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. CMMI-1844238.
Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2020.
PY - 2020/3
Y1 - 2020/3
N2 - Accessible pedestrian signal was proposed as a mean to achieve the same level of service that is set forth by the Americans with Disabilities Act for the visually impaired. One of the major issues of existing accessible pedestrian signals is the failure to deliver adequate crossing information for the visually impaired. This article presents a mobile-based accessible pedestrian signal application, namely, Virtual Guide Dog. Integrating intersection information and onboard sensors (e.g. GPS, compass, accelerometer, and gyroscope sensor) of modern smartphones, the Virtual Guide Dog application can notify the visually impaired: (1) the close proximity of an intersection and (2) the street information for crossing. By employing a screen tapping interface, Virtual Guide Dog can remotely place a pedestrian crossing call to the controller, without the need of using a pushbutton. In addition, Virtual Guide Dog informs VIs the start of a crossing phase using text-to-speech technology. The proof-of-concept test shows that Virtual Guide Dog keeps the users informed about the remaining distance as they are approaching the intersection. It was also found that the GPS-only mode is accompanied by greater distance deviation compared to the mode jointly operating with both GPS and cellular positioning.
AB - Accessible pedestrian signal was proposed as a mean to achieve the same level of service that is set forth by the Americans with Disabilities Act for the visually impaired. One of the major issues of existing accessible pedestrian signals is the failure to deliver adequate crossing information for the visually impaired. This article presents a mobile-based accessible pedestrian signal application, namely, Virtual Guide Dog. Integrating intersection information and onboard sensors (e.g. GPS, compass, accelerometer, and gyroscope sensor) of modern smartphones, the Virtual Guide Dog application can notify the visually impaired: (1) the close proximity of an intersection and (2) the street information for crossing. By employing a screen tapping interface, Virtual Guide Dog can remotely place a pedestrian crossing call to the controller, without the need of using a pushbutton. In addition, Virtual Guide Dog informs VIs the start of a crossing phase using text-to-speech technology. The proof-of-concept test shows that Virtual Guide Dog keeps the users informed about the remaining distance as they are approaching the intersection. It was also found that the GPS-only mode is accompanied by greater distance deviation compared to the mode jointly operating with both GPS and cellular positioning.
KW - Intelligent transportation systems
KW - accessible pedestrian signal
KW - cooperative infrastructure pedestrian system
KW - pedestrian safety
KW - visually impaired
KW - vulnerable road user
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U2 - 10.1177/1687814019883096
DO - 10.1177/1687814019883096
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85081343291
SN - 1687-8132
VL - 12
JO - Advances in Mechanical Engineering
JF - Advances in Mechanical Engineering
IS - 3
ER -