Wearable Multimodal Wayfinding Techniques for Blind and Visually Impaired People

City College of New York, 2010 - $8,000

This grant will support planning and development of a cross-department joint undergraduate senior design course in computer science, computer engineering, and electrical engineering at City College of New York. In the course, students will develop multimodal and unobtrusive techniques for helping the blind and visually impaired.

The course will be a two-semester sequence for seniors. In the first semester, students will learn the basics of sensors, actuators, visual navigation algorithms, and assistive technologies, as well as business and social issues. In the second semester, students will form into teams and study the needs of blind users, create designs of new assistive technologies, prototype them, and perform usability studies in collaboration with NYS Commission for the Blind and Visually Handicapped and the Computer Center for Visually Impaired people at CUNY Baruch College.