NAVI hack uses a Kinect to let the blind see, wear awesome headgear (video)
37 replies, posted
[quote=Engaget]
[img]http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadget.com/media/2011/03/kinect-navi-2011-03-17-600.jpg[/img]
They're getting ever more practical, these Kinect hacks. Two days ago it was creating 3D models in free-space, today it's letting the blind see. Well, not really see, but better navigate through and stay informed about their environment, at least. A Kinect is attached to a helmet and connected to a backpack-mounted Dell laptop. Also connected to the laptop is an Ardunio-controlled belt that has three separate regions of vibration and a Bluetooth headset of the "obnoxious guy talking loudly to his stock broker on the train" variety. Finally, thanks to a little C#, the whole package allows someone to walk down a hall and receive verbal and tactile notifications of obstacles in their path. Wearers can also receive navigation to different areas and, thanks to ARToolKit identifiers stuck on the walls, even have signs read to them. It's called NAVI (Navigational Aids for the Visually Impaired), created by Michael Zöllner and Stephan Huber at the University of Konstanz, and it's all demonstrated for you below. Dig that hat, man. Dig that hat.
[/quote]
Source:
[url]http://www.engadget.com/2011/03/17/navi-hack-uses-a-kinect-to-let-the-blind-see-wear-awesome-headg/[/url]
Video:
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l6QY-eb6NoQ[/media]
This is full of win.
This is good use of Modern technology.
[img]http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadget.com/media/2011/03/kinect-navi-2011-03-17-600.jpg[/img]
Dear god, that is some awesome headgear.
If this was a smartphone app then it'd be more useful still.
[QUOTE=Turnips5;28657328][img_thumb]http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadget.com/media/2011/03/kinect-navi-2011-03-17-600.jpg[/img_thumb]
Dear god, that is some awesome headgear.[/QUOTE]
It's an upcoming TF2 hat
[QUOTE=Kingy_why;28657523]If this was a smartphone app then it'd be more useful still.[/QUOTE]
:what:
So the day has come, Kinect is finally useful.
Expecting it to go "Hey! Hey!" any second now.
[QUOTE=Hesychasmos;28657555]:what:[/QUOTE]
Do you expect blind people to carry a laptop on their backs. The head gear needs to be more intergrated too.
Very impressive.
so all we need know is to make it portbale and smaller
[QUOTE=Kingy_why;28657626]Do you expect blind people to carry a laptop on their backs. The head gear needs to be more intergrated too.[/QUOTE]
It's a prototype, so it's still in development, this isn't the final product.
[QUOTE=Zah;28657573]Expecting it to go "Hey! Hey!" any second now.[/QUOTE]
Listen. hey hey hey hey hey
LISTEN
Damn, if I was blind I'd be excited, even if it wasn't proper vision.
[editline]17th March 2011[/editline]
[QUOTE=theevilldeadII;28657693]so all we need know is to make it portbale and smaller[/QUOTE]
It's a start.
I like how the Kinect is being used for everything but games :v:
Microsoft created the Kinect with all this greatness in mind, they just marked it as otherwise
[QUOTE=tier56;28657701]It's a prototype, so it's still in development, this isn't the final product.[/QUOTE]
Its more of a project than a prototype or product, but its good because it shows that this kind of technology can have real world applications.
So this scans the environment and provides audio cues to navigate it successfully?
That is fucking neat!
Wait, it can actually scan signs and read them? God fucking damn! Best Kinect project so far, without a doubt.
I love how the kinect seems to be able to do everything [I]but[/I] gaming.
They tried the same thing with the Move. It got pretty ugly.
[QUOTE=Kingy_why;28657523]If this was a smartphone app then it'd be more useful still.[/QUOTE]
How many blind people do you know that own a smartphone?
[QUOTE=Chickens!;28659193]How many blind people do you know that own a smartphone?[/QUOTE]
I know 3 blind people and they all have a smartphone.
2 got iphone and one has an android.
The Kinect really is a remarkable piece of hardware. Did you see the 3D representation it built up of the surrounding area? Amazing.
Just give me a gay rape simulator already.
[QUOTE=Protection;28660490]Just give me a gay rape simulator already.[/QUOTE]
Avatar fits.
If i was blind i wouldn't like walking around like that. But this is fucking amazing.
[QUOTE=Faceslasher;28660652]If i was blind i wouldn't like walking around like that. But this is fucking amazing.[/QUOTE]
If you were blind, you wouldn't know what you were wearing.
By god, we truly live in the future.
Snip
How long till someone mods a Kinect to cure the common cold?
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