IBM Researchers Develop Smartphone App to Enable Social Distancing
ICT, May 11 2021
During the pandemic, everyone is expected to stay socially distanced, with at least six feet between them and the person in front of them. For those with normal vision, standing in line while remaining at a safe distance from the person in front of you isn’t a problem. However, for the blind or visually impaired, maintaining an appropriate distance can be a challenge. A team of IBM researchers have created an AI-driven smartphone application called LineChaser to solve this problem
The app is designed to help the blind or visually impaired people find the end of the line and continuously report the distance and direction of the last person in line so the user can follow them easily. The app uses the RGB camera integrated into the smartphone and detects nearby pedestrians. It also leverages the integrated infrared depth sensor to estimate their position.
Combined, the data estimates whether nearby pedestrians are standing in line and audio and vibration signals notify the user when they should start or stop moving forward. IBM researchers note this isn’t the first time they’ve worked on systems to help solve problems [...]