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Recent advancements in indoor electronic travel aids for the blind or visually impaired: a comprehensive review of technologies and implementations

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Abstract

The human sense of vision is a critical tool for interaction and exploration in the physical world. However, this valuable faculty can be impaired by a range of causes, such as congenital disabilities, accidents, or illnesses. Blind or visually impaired persons (BVIP) face considerable challenges in navigation, especially in unfamiliar settings, impeding their autonomy and exposing them to potential hazards. Electronic travel aids (ETAs) have emerged as a solution, providing support for mobility and facilitating autonomous navigation through information on the environment, the user's location, and directional instructions. Despite the existence of these systems, the literature lacks a comprehensive approach to integrating various functions into ETAs to enhance their support of indoor navigation activities for BVIP. This systematic literature review analysed previous ETAs and evaluated them based on the technologies employed and the functions they fulfil. A thorough search was conducted across ten journal databases, focusing on articles published between 2017 and 2022 to capture the most recent advancements in related ETA technologies. The results of this review highlight a promising avenue for future research in develo** advanced ETAs for indoor navigation by BVIP.

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Data availability

The data or information used to support the results reported in the article can be found in the references section of this manuscript. The peer reviewer may check on the hyperlinks provided in the references section to validate the information included in the main body of the manuscript.

Abbreviations

BVIP:

Blind or visually impaired people

BLE:

Bluetooth low energy

CV:

Computer vision

CNN:

Convolution neural network

EOAs:

Electronic orientation aids

ETAs:

Electronic travel aids

IP:

Image processing

LZ:

Localization

ML:

Machine learning

NFC:

Near-field communication

OR:

Object recognition

ODA:

Obstacle detection and avoidance

PLDs:

Position locator devices

RFID:

Radio-frequency identification

US:

Ultrasonic sensor

UWB:

Ultra-wideband

VLC:

Visible light communication

VBT:

Vision-based technology

VATs:

Visual assistive technologies

WHO:

World Health Organization

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    In-Ju Kim

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Kim, IJ. Recent advancements in indoor electronic travel aids for the blind or visually impaired: a comprehensive review of technologies and implementations. Univ Access Inf Soc (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10209-023-01086-8

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