Braille Vision Using Braille Display and Bio-inspired Camera

Abstract

This paper presents a system for Braille learning support using real-time panoramic views generated from the novel smart panorama camera 360SCAN. The system makes use of the modern image processing libraries and state-of-the-art features extraction and clustering methods. We compare the real-time frames recorded by the bio-inspired camera to the reference images in order to determine particular figures. One contribution of the proposed method is that image edges can be transformed to the presentation on Braille display directly without any image processing. It is possible due to the bio-inspired construction of camera sensor. Another contribution is that our approach provides Braille users with images recorded from natural scenes. We conducted several experiments that verify the methods that demonstrate learning figures captured by the smart camera. Our goal is to process such images and present them on the Braille Display in a form appropriate for visually impaired people. All evaluations were performed in the natural environment with ambient illumination of 200 lux, which demonstrates high camera reliability in difficult light conditions. The system can be optimized by applying additional filters and features algorithms and by decreasing the rotational speed of the camera. The presented Braille learning support system is a building block for a rich and qualitative educational system for the efficient information transfer focused on visually impaired people.