Accessing Passersby Proxemic Signals through a Head-Worn Camera: Opportunities and Limitations for the Blind.

The spatial behavior of passersby can be critical to blind individuals to initiate interactions, preserve personal space, or practice social distancing during a pandemic. Among other use cases, wearable cameras employing computer vision can be used to extract proxemic signals of others and thus increase access to the spatial behavior of passersby for blind people. Analyzing data collected in a study with blind (N=10) and sighted (N=40) participants, we explore: (i) visual information on approaching passersby captured by a head-worn camera; (ii) pedestrian detection algorithms for extracting proxemic signals such as passerby presence, relative position, distance, and head pose; and (iii) opportunities and limitations of using wearable cameras for helping blind people access proxemics related to nearby people.

Pedestrian Detection with Wearable Cameras for the Blind: A Two-way Perspective.

Blind people have limited access to information about their surroundings, which is important for ensuring one's safety, managing social interactions, and identifying approaching pedestrians. With advances in computer vision, wearable cameras can provide equitable access to such information. However, the always-on nature of these assistive technologies poses privacy concerns for parties that may get recorded.

Variability in Reactions to Instructional Guidance during Smartphone-Based Assisted Navigation of Blind Users.

'Turn slightly to the left' the navigational system announces, with the aim of directing a blind user to merge into a corridor. Yet, due to long reaction time, the user turns too late and proceeds into the wrong hallway. Observations of such user behavior in real-world navigation settings motivate us to study the manner in which blind users react to the instructional feedback of a turn-by-turn guidance system.