DEVELOPMENT AND VERIFICATION OF NAVIGATION SYSTEM TO SUPPORT WHEELCHAIR USER ACTIVITY IN URBAN AREAS

Based on a previously developed prototype system, a wheelchair navigation system that searches for an optimum route from a current location to a destination has been improved and evaluated. Improvements included applying textures to buildings so that wheelchair users could more easily identify a particular location on a route. In addition, the method used to measure physical burden was improved. Measuring points were increased and changed from a single arm to both arms, and measuring locations were increased. The usefulness of each searched route was verified through two test runs with wheelchair users and a workshop method. Based on these results, we have developed a smartphone version of the wheelchair navigation system.