Deep-Learning-Based Cognitive Assistance Embedded Systems for People with Visual Impairment

For people with vision impairment, various daily tasks, such as independent navigation, information access, and context awareness, may be challenging. Although several smart devices have been developed to assist blind people, most of these devices focus exclusively on navigation assistance and obsta...

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Main Authors: Huu-Huy Ngo, Hung Linh Le, Feng-Cheng Lin
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2025-05-01
Series:Applied Sciences
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/15/11/5887
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author Huu-Huy Ngo
Hung Linh Le
Feng-Cheng Lin
author_facet Huu-Huy Ngo
Hung Linh Le
Feng-Cheng Lin
author_sort Huu-Huy Ngo
collection DOAJ
description For people with vision impairment, various daily tasks, such as independent navigation, information access, and context awareness, may be challenging. Although several smart devices have been developed to assist blind people, most of these devices focus exclusively on navigation assistance and obstacle avoidance. In this study, we developed a portable system for not only obstacle avoidance but also identifying people and their emotions. The core of the developed system is a powerful and portable edge computing device that implements various deep learning algorithms for images captured from a webcam. The user can easily select a function by using a remote control device, and the system vocally reports the results to the user. The developed system has three primary functions: detecting the names and emotions of known people; detecting the age, gender, and emotion of unknown people; and detecting objects. To validate the performance of the developed system, a prototype was constructed and tested. The results reveal that the developed system has high accuracy and responsiveness and is therefore suitable for practical applications as a navigation and social assistive device for people with visual impairment.
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institution Kabale University
issn 2076-3417
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publishDate 2025-05-01
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series Applied Sciences
spelling doaj-art-1ab0eefbe70e4dcf9ff55766b234b6a82025-08-20T03:46:47ZengMDPI AGApplied Sciences2076-34172025-05-011511588710.3390/app15115887Deep-Learning-Based Cognitive Assistance Embedded Systems for People with Visual ImpairmentHuu-Huy Ngo0Hung Linh Le1Feng-Cheng Lin2Faculty of Information Technology, Thai Nguyen University of Information and Communication Technology, Thai Nguyen 24000, VietnamFaculty of Engineering and Technology, Thai Nguyen University of Information and Communication Technology, Thai Nguyen 24000, VietnamDepartment of Information Engineering and Computer Science, Feng Chia University, Taichung 40724, TaiwanFor people with vision impairment, various daily tasks, such as independent navigation, information access, and context awareness, may be challenging. Although several smart devices have been developed to assist blind people, most of these devices focus exclusively on navigation assistance and obstacle avoidance. In this study, we developed a portable system for not only obstacle avoidance but also identifying people and their emotions. The core of the developed system is a powerful and portable edge computing device that implements various deep learning algorithms for images captured from a webcam. The user can easily select a function by using a remote control device, and the system vocally reports the results to the user. The developed system has three primary functions: detecting the names and emotions of known people; detecting the age, gender, and emotion of unknown people; and detecting objects. To validate the performance of the developed system, a prototype was constructed and tested. The results reveal that the developed system has high accuracy and responsiveness and is therefore suitable for practical applications as a navigation and social assistive device for people with visual impairment.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/15/11/5887age classificationemotion classificationface recognitiongender classificationobject detection
spellingShingle Huu-Huy Ngo
Hung Linh Le
Feng-Cheng Lin
Deep-Learning-Based Cognitive Assistance Embedded Systems for People with Visual Impairment
Applied Sciences
age classification
emotion classification
face recognition
gender classification
object detection
title Deep-Learning-Based Cognitive Assistance Embedded Systems for People with Visual Impairment
title_full Deep-Learning-Based Cognitive Assistance Embedded Systems for People with Visual Impairment
title_fullStr Deep-Learning-Based Cognitive Assistance Embedded Systems for People with Visual Impairment
title_full_unstemmed Deep-Learning-Based Cognitive Assistance Embedded Systems for People with Visual Impairment
title_short Deep-Learning-Based Cognitive Assistance Embedded Systems for People with Visual Impairment
title_sort deep learning based cognitive assistance embedded systems for people with visual impairment
topic age classification
emotion classification
face recognition
gender classification
object detection
url https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/15/11/5887
work_keys_str_mv AT huuhuyngo deeplearningbasedcognitiveassistanceembeddedsystemsforpeoplewithvisualimpairment
AT hunglinhle deeplearningbasedcognitiveassistanceembeddedsystemsforpeoplewithvisualimpairment
AT fengchenglin deeplearningbasedcognitiveassistanceembeddedsystemsforpeoplewithvisualimpairment