Project Guideline : For Blind Runners

 

Currently, a blind person or visually impaired persons were use a dog or a person to guide them for walk or run. To provide more independence, Google developed a new AI based system, that can help blind people to run independently. 

Project Guideline 

Thomas panek, a runner and CEO of Guiding Eyes for Blind, was joined with Google Engineers team for build a system based on Artificial Intelligence that can help blind and visually impaired people run races without any support. This project is named as "Project Guideline" and it is currently going through an early-testing phase. 

To use the system, a runner attaches an android phone to a Google designed harness that goes around the waist. A Project Guideline app can use the phone's camera to track the guideline that's been laid down on a course. The app then sends audio cues to bone-conducting headphone when a runner veers away from the line, the sound will get louder in one ear the further stray to the side. 

 

The app doesn't need an internet connection to work, and it can account for a number of lightning and weather conditions. Beyond the pilot with Panek, Google plans to partner with organizations to help paint guidelines in different communities and provide additional feedback. 

Panek was tried attempting to run NYRR's Virtual Run for Thanks 5K along a line temporarily painted in Central Park in New York City. The launch of Guideline comes after Google debuted more in-depth spoken directions for Maps, which inform users when to turn and tell them when they're approaching an intersection so they can exercise caution when crossing. The company also continues to develop Lookout, an accessibility focused app that can identify packaged food using computer vision, scan documents to make easier to review letters, mails and more. 

 

M. Naveenkumar

 

S. Sakthikumar