Guide Dog: An Audio Guidance Tool

RGB-D cameras, like the Microsoft Kinect, are gaining popularity. Currently, the technology is used mostly in games. However, the technology is relatively young and the applications for it are still unknown. Guide Dog is an experimental application of an RGB-D camera, that uses audio to direct a user to a destination, while avoiding obstacles. The system relies on an RGB-D camera mounted on the user to detect the features of the environment, which are then communicated by audio to the user. It uses various audio tones to convey the directions and distances of the destination and obstacles. Guide Dog could be used by a blind person to navigate through a room or to help a user nd his or her keys in the dark. This paper details the authors’ experiences designing, building and improving Guide Dog. Included is a detailed description of the technologies used and the paths the authors took to get a nal, working product. Guide Dog’s implementation is available online for anyone to try and build upon.