Development of a direction indicating system for a tele-support for the visually impaired

It is difficult to indicate the direction of heading to the visually impaired travelers. In this study, we developed the direction indicating system using the tactile stimulation for a tele-support. Here, a tele-support is that a supporter at remote place receives information surrounding the user such as sound, view and location through the video phone, and explains to the user about user´s current location, direction, and how to find the direction of heading. Our system is composed of two subsystems. One is a local navigation system, which enables a traveler to know where he/she is. Another is a tele-support system, which enabled a support who is in remote place to indicate the direction of walking to a traveler. This paper describes about this developed system and the demonstration of it at an exhibition.