VPER - A Visual HelPER Device for the Visually Impaired Users

Formulating movements in an indoor environment requires not only object but also people information, including people position and moving direction, and it is especially challenging for the visually impaired particularly in an unfamiliar indoor environment. A number of prior researches have offered various solutions. However, the bulk of prior researches applied instrumented sensors which require high network density in order to deploy the system. In this paper, we describe VPER (Visual Helper) designed for a visually impaired person to sense his/her surrounding information in an indoor environment. With the help of motion sensor Kinect for Windows Version 2.0, VPER allows the active user to obtain his/her surrounding information such as the number of people around him/her, their actions, orientation and positions, these pieces of information will then be conveyed through haptic cues (vibration) and audio cues.