3. Kinect goggle system

(a) (b)

(c) (d)

Figure 13. A visually impaired user wants to sit on a bench to take a rest in an elevator hall. (a) A visually impaired user comes out of an elevator. (b) The user instructs the system to find a bench. (c) The user pans the Kinect sensor. (d) The system finds the bench. (e) The user walks toward the bench. (f) The user confirms the bench. (g) The user can sit on the

(f)

(e)

120 Causes and Coping with Visual Impairment and Blindness

(g)

bench.

This section introduces another type of Kinect-based wearable assistive system, a Kinect goggle system [72] (Figure 14). A Kinect sensor is attached to a goggle on the face of a visually impaired user. A notebook computer, a numeric keypad, a tactile device, and a UPS battery are set in a shoulder bag. These devices are connected with wires for device controlling and power supply. The Kinect goggle system does not require a visually impaired user to hold a heavy Kinect sensor, and therefore the user can make his or her hands free.

The current system can detect obstacles and recognize seats by use of the software which is almost the same as those of the Kinect cane system. Figure 15 shows an example scene including a bench. The red region in Figure 15(c) represents the sitting surface of the bench.

Figure 14. Our Kinect goggle system.

Figure 15. Recognition result of a seat by the Kinect goggle system. (a) A bench; (b) depth data; (c) recognition result.
