Mobile technology as access technology

Enhancing spatial awareness for blind travelers
3 September 2019
September 3, 2019

Date&Time: September 3, 2019 - h. 11:00 am
Venue: Via Sommarive 5 - Polo Ferrari 1 (Povo, TN) - Room Garda

Speaker

  • Prof. Roberto Manduchi, U. Santa Cruz

Abstract

Moving about in an unfamiliar environment requires continuous visual processing: we examine our surroundings, figure out where we need to go, track our own position, find landmarks, read signs. For those with low vision or who are blind, these tasks  can be daunting. In this talk, I will describe a number of projects in my laboratory that use smartphones to provide some level of  awareness to blind travelers. These projects use different technologies, including  inertial sensors for safe backtracking, mobile vision for scene text detection, and Bluetooth low energy beacons for localization and guidance in complex transit hubs. 

This research is sponsored by the National Science Foundation and by the National Institutes of Health.

About the Speaker

Roberto Manduchi is a Professor of Computer Science and Engineering at the University of California, Santa Cruz, where he has been on the faculty since 2001. Previously, he held positions at Apple Computer and at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. 

He holds a Doctorate degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Padova. He is a co-recipient of the 2013 Helmholtz Prize for fundamental contributions in Computer Vision.

Contactgiuseppe.riccardi [at] unitn.it (Giuseppe Riccardi)