A smart cane assembly includes a cane, an electronic device, and a headset. Each part is configured to communicate with the other through known wired and/or wireless communications. Data may be transmitted between them in real time to provide accurate and meaningful information to the user related to providing a 3D audible sound through the headset relating to an object in the environment. In general, the cane includes one or more sensors to detect obstacles in the environment, the electronic device processes the information, and the headset conveys the information to the user.

In a first aspect of the invention, it is claimed a computer-implemented method for assisting the movement of a visually impaired user by means of a wearable device 1, comprising the following steps: S1—Acquiring data from the environment of the visually impaired user S2—Fusing the acquired data, creating, repeatedly updating of a Live Map S3—Determining, repeatedly updating and storing, of at least one navigation path together with associated navigation guiding instructions for the visually impaired user to navigate from the current position of the visually impaired user to a point of interest, repeatedly selecting one preferred navigation path from the at least one navigation path, and repeatedly sending to the visually impaired user the preferred navigation path, together with associated navigation guiding instructions.

Embodiments of the present disclosure disclose a method, apparatus, device, and storage medium for controlling a guide robot, and relate to the field of artificial intelligence, robots, and multi-sensor fusion technologies. A specific embodiment of the method includes: acquiring a state of the guide robot, a state of a user, and a position of an obstacle; generating a state update equation for a combined system of the guide robot and the user based on the state of the guide robot and the state of the user; generating a collision-free global path based on the position of the obstacle; generating a control command based on the state update equation for the combined system and the collision-free global path; and driving the guide robot to move based on the control command.

A controller of a white stick system determines a walking direction of a person who acts without using eyesight based on sensor data acquired from built-in sensors, such as a camera, and generates a first notification to notify the determined walking direction. A wireless communication unit receives information regarding movement of a mobile object present around the person from a data communication module and a mobile terminal. The controller generates a second notification to notify a collision between the person who moves without using eyesight and the mobile object when the collision is predicted based on the information regarding movement of the mobile object.

Apparatuses, systems and methods associated with a travel assistance system. A wearable personal navigation device may include a communication system, an indicator, and a processor coupled to the communication system and the indicator. The processor may be configured to generate a request for a navigation path from a location to a destination and transmit the request to a node of the network. The processor may be configured to determine the direction of travel from the location of the user based on a first navigation path received from the node of the network in response to the request, wherein the first navigation path includes at least one modification from a second navigation path, wherein the modification is based on data received by the network from a remote device that indicates an object, and cause the indicator to indicate the direction of travel. Other embodiments may be described and/or claimed.

Aspects of the present disclosures relate aids for the visually impaired.

The technology disclosed herein includes a navigation system for a visually impaired person. The navigation system may include a plurality of fixtures, a plurality of installations, wherein each installation is electronically connected to a fixture, and an electronic device, the electronic device configured to receive auditory or tactile signals from each installation and produce a signal indicative of a fixture location.

Aspects of the present invention provide an approach for non-visually mapping an environment. In an embodiment, a set of images that is within the field of view of the user is captured from a video capture device worn by the user. Environmental text that is within the set of images is identified. An aural contextual indicator that corresponds to the environmental text is then generated. This aural contextual indicator indicates the informational nature of the environmental text. An aural map of the environment is created using a sequence of the generated aural contextual indicators. This aural map is delivered to the user via an aural output device worn by the user in response to a user request.

A vision impaired navigating assembly for guiding a visually impaired user while walking includes a cane that is gripped by a visually impaired user to assist the visually impaired user with walking. A biometric scanner is coupled to the cane to scan the visually impaired user's fingerprint. A first transceiver is integrated into the cane and the first transceiver is in wireless communication with a global positioning system (gps) for gps navigation. A second transceiver is integrated into the cane and the second transceiver is in wireless communication with a personal electronic device. A speaker is coupled to the cane to emit audible sounds outwardly therefrom related to gps navigation for guiding the visually impaired user.

A method for providing information to a user, preferably including: determining environmental information; determining a set of features based on the information; determining output parameters based on the features; and controlling a sensory output system to generate outputs based on the output parameters. A sensory output device, preferably including a plurality of sensory output actuators. A system for providing information to a user, preferably including one or more: sensory output devices, sensors, and computing systems.