Speaking monuments — design and implementation of an RFID based blind friendly environment

Fifty-one learning strategies were developed and validated in this study to make language learners more knowledgeable about unfamiliar environments. The study tested the effectiveness of the strategies in improving the creativity of students. 75 university students participated in the study and they were divided into three groups: (1) students who learned in unfamiliar learning environments without familiarization strategies; (2) students who learned in unfamiliar learning environments and used familiarization strategies; and (3) students who learned in familiar learning environments. All students learned vocabulary, grammar, sentence patterns and how to write descriptive essays in class. After class, they applied newly learned knowledge by describing people, objects and situations in the real world using mobile devices. The content of students' essays was compared across three groups and the results showed that students in Group 2 and Group 3 had better creativity scores than students in Group 1. The results indicated that students' creativity is affected by their familiarity with the environment. Therefore, it is suggested that student familiarization with learning sites needs to be considered when designing learning activities in the real world. Educators should provide familiarization strategies to students when learning in unfamiliar learning environments.

Sleep is important for processing memories and emotions. It is widely assumed that during sleep, particularly during slow-wave sleep (SWS), newly acquired memory traces are spontaneously reactivated, thereby supporting their consolidation and stabilization. Beyond memory traces, the Memories-of-Sleep (MemoSleep-) Hypothesis suggests that cognitive concepts are also reactivated during sleep. The repeated reactivations of these concepts potentially influence sleep quality by either impairing or improving sleep, depending on the particular content of these concepts. However, it remains unclear whether memory reactivations occur primarily during SWS or whether the non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep stage N2 is also involved. Additionally, the exact nature of sleep disturbances induced by unfamiliar environments, particularly over non-consecutive nights, has not yet been fully characterized and explained by the MemoSleep-Hypothesis. Finally, the influence of emotions on sleep within the context of the MemoSleep-Hypothesis remains to be clarified. This dissertation addresses these research gaps through three independent sleep studies. The first study investigated the contribution of memory reactivation during NREM sleep stage N2 compared to SWS. However, no significant difference was found between words that were externally reactivated during N2 and those reactivated during SWS. Moreover, there was no overall memory benefit from targeted memory reactivation (TMR) during sleep. The second study examined sleep disturbances during the first night in an unfamiliar environment, known as the First-Night Effect (FNE), as an example of the reactivation of stressful mental concepts during sleep. The results show that an FNE exists also in non-consecutive nights and even occurs in familiar environments. However, prior familiarization with the recording equipment was found to attenuate the FNE. The third study explored, for the first time, whether musical chords associated with varying emotional ratings can elicit different brain responses during sleep. The results confirmed that the sleeping brain is capable of differentially processing specific musical chords. The results of this dissertation challenge the specific role of SWS in memory reactivation during sleep. Additionally, they demonstrate that unfamiliar sleep environments generally impact sleep quality, however, a habituation occurs even over non-consecutive nights. Finally, these findings pave the way for novel approaches to using emotion-associated musical stimuli to influence activated mental concepts during sleep, providing new knowledge and a foundation for further refinements and future research directions within the framework of the MemoSleep-Hypothesis.

The demand for pedestrian navigation has increased along with the rapid progress in mobile and wearable devices. This study develops an accurate and usable Step Length Estimation (SLE) method for a Pedestrian Dead Reckoning (PDR) system with features including a wide range of step lengths, a self-contained system, and real-time computing, based on the multi-sensor fusion and Fuzzy Logic (FL) algorithms. The wide-range SLE developed in this study was achieved by using a knowledge-based method to model the walking patterns of the user. The input variables of the FL are step strength and frequency, and the output is the estimated step length. Moreover, a waist-mounted sensor module has been developed using low-cost inertial sensors. Since low-cost sensors suffer from various errors, a calibration procedure has been utilized to improve accuracy. The proposed PDR scheme in this study demonstrates its ability to be implemented on waist-mounted devices in real time and is suitable for the indoor and outdoor environments considered in this study without the need for map information or any pre-installed infrastructure. The experiment results show that the maximum distance error was within 1.2% of 116.51 m in an indoor environment and was 1.78% of 385.2 m in an outdoor environment.

Effect of familiar and unfamiliar environments on proximity behavior of young children

This research is a study on improving information facilitated by common GPS based mobile application for navigation especially by the blind users. For a blind person, the main source of information is words and how to improve the effectiveness of the explanation using mobile application for them is tested in this research. The long term goal of technology is to create a movable, self-contained system that allows visually impaired people to navigate through unfamiliar environments without the assistance of guides The experiment for the research took place at MFB (Malaysian Foundation for the Blind) using existing GPS based mobile applications and the results were used to prove the hypothesis that the blind are at a considerable downside because of the absence of information and providing a detailed description of the environment could be used in the GPS navigation applications for the blind pedestrians to help them navigate independently and it would enable them to take up GPS for independent navigation in unknown environment. The information derived from the research could further help in creating and improving the semantics of the GPS based navigation technology for the blind pedestrians in an unknown environment.

The factors that drive partial migration in organisms are not fully understood. Roach (Rutilus rutilus), a freshwater fish, engage in partial migration where parts of populations switch between summer habitats in lakes and winter habitats in connected streams. To test if the partial migration trait is phenotypically plastic or has genetic components, we translocated roach from 2 populations with different opportunities for migration to a lake with migration opportunity, containing a local roach population. This enabled monitoring of partial migration of fish in 3 different situations: 1) previous opportunity for migration, migrating in a familiar environment (the local population); 2) previous opportunity for migration, migrating in an unfamiliar environment; and 3) no previous opportunity for seasonal migration, migrating in an unfamiliar environment. In addition, we evaluated the migration patterns of roach in the lake with migration opportunity wherefrom group 2 fish were translocated. Directional migration in and out of the lakes was monitored using Passive Integrated Transponder technology. Translocated fish with previous migration opportunity showed migration patterns more similar to local fish than to their home lake population, and individuals translocated from the lake without migration opportunity migrated when given the opportunity, suggesting that partial migration is phenotypically plastic and triggered by lake-specific environmental cues. We found temperature to be a proximate cue for migration decisions. Individuals without previous migration opportunity migrated at a lower proportion and with different small-scale migration patterns, suggesting that also genetic components are involved in the expression of the partial migration trait. Copyright 2010, Oxford University Press.

Background Spatial representations of the environment may change as a result of increased familiarity; yet there are few studies about this topic (Evans and Pezdek 1980; Thorndyke and Hayes-Roth 1982). These studies have suggested that familiar environments are represented in an allocentric way, whereas unfamiliar environments in an egocentric way. A representation is egocentric if maintains the perspective under which spatial information has been experienced. This means that access to spatial locations is not equally easy but depends on the relation between the required location and the organism. An allocentric representation is based on frames of reference independent of the organism’s position and centred on objects or environmental features. However, in these studies the factor “familiarity” was confused with the way of exploring the environment (real exploration for familiar participants, maps for unfamiliar participants), and consequently it was difficult to interpret the results unambiguously. Further, there are few studies based on locomotor exploration of real environments and they have shown that unfamiliar environments are represented egocentrically, although salient environmental axes may acquire a certain relevance (Iachini and Logie 2003; McNamara et al. 2003). Overall, in all these studies the patterns of results were interpreted as verifying the “allocentric” or “egocentric” view according to a specific theoretical definition and there was no direct measure of allocentric vs egocentric coding.

Autonomous Sonar Navigation in Indoor, Unknown and Unstructured Environments

Autonomous service robots are gaining popularity as they find application in different sectors such as logistics, hospitality, medical, space exploration and military. It is widely seen that autonomous service robots help increase efficiency, reduce cost and ensure safer operations. Automating material handling operations in highly dynamic indoor environments is risky and involves use of complex algorithms. However, continuously advancing technologies and machine programming tend to overcome these challenges. The three essential functions of an autonomous robot are to identify its instantaneous location in three-dimensional space, generate the environment map and decide an optimal path for locomotion. Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (SLAM) is a widely used algorithm for navigation in unfamiliar environments. This chapter presents a cost-effective autonomous ground robot for automating material handling, transportation and other repetitive tasks in dynamically changing surroundings. The robot is programmed to map the indoor environment and localize itself in the workspace with the help of SLAM and Adaptive Monte Carlo Localization (AMCL). In addition, the robot can manoeuvre through the indoor workspace by avoiding static and dynamic obstacles. This work employs the GMapping open-source package in the Robot Operating System (ROS) for performing SLAM with the aid of a laser range finder, wheel odometry and inertial data. The GMapping algorithm uses a probabilistic approach to construct a map and estimate the robot’s location in two-dimensional space. In addition, this chapter presents an autonomous navigation feature with the help of the AMCL method for localizing the robot within an uncertain environment and making the robot move to its goal using move base actions in ROS. The path planning of the mobile robot is classified into global and local plans. The global plan is responsible for planning the path from the start point to the endpoint. The local plan is responsible for planning the actual movement of the robot by avoiding any dynamic obstacles not mapped earlier. This work uses the Dijistra algorithm for the global and the dynamic window approach (DWA) algorithm for the local path planning. The optimization algorithm minimizes the error between the global and local paths. The simulation study of the proposed algorithm is performed in a virtual environment called Gazebo in ROS, which is nearly similar to a real-time indoor workspace. Further, a robot prototype is fabricated, and its performance is evaluated in an unknown environment. The robot prototype is equipped with brushed DC motors with optical encoder feedback for wheel odometry (ODOM), Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR), and Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) sensors controlled using a Jetson Nano. The simulation and experimental results showcase the robot’s successful two-dimensional localization and navigation in the factory environment. The current system has the potential for indoor assistance during material transfer and logistic applications. Further upgrades to the system can make it usable for Automated Storage and Retrieval System (ASRS) applications in warehouses/factories.

Orientation within orienteering is dependent on the use of two basic strategies; that is, either a compass or Magnetic-North-based strategy, which relies on the use of one set of information; or the use of a map and landmark-based strategy which relies on the use of at least two sets of information. Walsh and found that, when given the choice, young children use the compass-based strategy when following complex potentially disorientating routes.The efficacy of these two basic orientation strategies was investigated within three different orienteering environments: (1) a familiar known environment; (2) a familiar unknown environment and (3) an unfamiliar unknown environment.Subjects, age range from 9 to 10·5 years, completed an appropriate orienteering route in each of the environments. Individual mini-cassette recorders and tie-pin microphones were used to record data using a ‘think aloud’ technique as subjects followed their selected routes. Transcripts of the taped data produced a total number of uttered statements for each subject within each environment. A qualitative analysis of these statements identified the following groups of statements expressed as percentages of the total number of statements (as reported by Thorndyke and Stasz): (a) Orientation statements; (b) Relocation or error correction statements; (c) Statements about distractions; (d) Self-efficacy statements.There was a higher reported use of the compass-based strategy for orientation within the familiar known environment which supported the earlier findings of Walsh and Martland. Although the percentage of compass-based orientation statements was smaller in the familiar unknown and the unfamiliar unknown environments, there was a pattern in the use of orientation strategies within these two environments. Typically, the compass-based orientation strategy was used for initial orientation at the beginning of the route and at the pre-defined control points along the route, whilst the landmark and map-based strategy was used as a means of maintaining and reinforcing orientation within the route. Relocation statements typically reported an awareness of disorientation and were generally followed by attempts to reorientate. Whilst none of the subjects used relocation statements within the familiar known environment, relocation statements were used within the familiar unknown and the unfamiliar unknown environments.This evidence suggests that both orientation strategies are used in orienteering routes, but that each strategy is used selectively depending on the environment. These findings clearly have implications for the sport of orienteering – particularly the introduction of basic skills to young performers. They support the argument that is essential to introduce the map and compass simultaneously and that relocation and orientation skills should be coached concurrently.

There are many navigation systems for visually impaired people but few can provide dynamic interactions and adaptability to changes. None of these systems work seamlessly both indoors and outdoors. Drishti uses a precise position measurement system, a wireless connection, a wearable computer, and a vocal communication interface to guide blind users and help them travel in familiar and unfamiliar environments independently and safely. Outdoors, it uses DGPS as its location system to keep the user as close as possible to the central line of sidewalks of campus and downtown areas; it provides the user with an optimal route by means of its dynamic routing and rerouting ability. The user can switch the system from an outdoor to an indoor environment with a simple vocal command. An OEM ultrasound positioning system is used to provide precise indoor location measurements. Experiments show an in-door accuracy of 22 cm. The user can get vocal prompts to avoid possible obstacles and step-by-step walking guidance to move about in an indoor environment. This paper describes the Drishti system and focuses on the indoor navigation design and lessons learned in integrating the indoor with the outdoor system.

1. Luis H. Ospina, MD* 1. *Assistant Professor, Pediatric Ophthalmology and Neuro-ophthalmology, Ste-Justine Hospital, University de Montreal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada After completing this article, readers should be able to: 1. Recognize cortical visual impairment (CVI) as an important cause of pediatric visual loss. 2. Identify the most frequent causes of pediatric CVI and, more specifically, understand the role of hypoxia as a cause of central visual damage. 3. Describe the different patterns and implications for future vision of hypoxic central visual damage occurring in preterm compared with term babies. 4. Know the clinical signs suggestive of CVI in children. 5. Discuss the involvement of visual functions other than visual acuity (ie, cognitive visual aspects) in CVI and correlate them with the likely affected neuroanatomic substrates. 6. Explain the value of using a multidisciplinary approach in rehabilitating children who have CVI early in their development. Vision loss caused by central nervous system damage often is referred to as CVI but also may be referred to as cerebral visual impairment or neurologic visual impairment. These terms refer to the fact that the primary defect may not necessarily be limited to the striate (primary visual) cortex and may affect other areas subserving vision, such as the visual associative cortex, optic radiations, and visual attention pathways. Although it is not yet certain which of these three terms best describes the visual deficit, it is clear that use of the label cortical blindness must be abandoned. That term not only evokes negative connotations for the child and the family but is inaccurate because in almost every instance, some degree of residual vision remains, and visual improvement can occur. CVI has become the greatest cause of pediatric visual impairment in developed countries (1)(2)(3)(4)(5) and is becoming increasingly prevalent in developing nations. CVI is a problem of increasing frequency for two primary reasons. First, the progress in neonatal care has resulted in improved survival of …

For assisting blind or visually impaired persons, many computer vision technology has been developed. Some camera based systems were developed to help those people in way finding, navigation and finding daily necessities. The motion of the observer causes all scene object stationary or non-stationary in motion. And hence it is very much important to detect moving object with the moving observer. In this context we have proposed a camera based prototype system for assisting blind person in detection of obstacles by using motion vectors. We have collected dataset of their indoor and outdoor environment and estimated the optical flow to perform object detection. Furthermore we have detected the objects in the region of interest without using costly Depth cameras and sensors. The hardware used in the proposed work is ‘Raspberry Pi 2-B’ and the algorithms used for object detection is performed using MATLAB (for simulation purpose) and Python language.

The fast transfer rates via UMTS and their corresponding high-tech devices provide the opportunity to develop easily accessible Location Based Services, which can be utilised to guide pedestrians in unfamiliar environments. With the help of cartographic multimedia data navigation systems can be responsive to the needs of pedestrians by presenting information in the preferred forms. In order to facilitate ongoing tasks, not only the presentation forms themselves are decisive, but also their combination and deliberate design is a crucial factor for usability. Moreover landmarks are an important enhancement for pedestrian navigation systems, yet their immense diversity makes it difficult to effectively include them in guiding instructions. For that reason this paper discusses the use of active and passive landmarks, as well as multimedia presentation forms and general design goals for a combined indoor/outdoor pedestrian navigation service.

This paper presents an in-depth analysis of drone pilots’ autonomic nervous system responses. The study focuses on the sympathetic and parasympathetic responses elicited during drone flights in familiar and unfamiliar environments. The research uses electrocardiogram (ECG) data to quantify the pilots’ physiological responses. The ECG, a widely used and noninvasive tool, provides valuable insights into heart electrical activity, reflecting the dynamic balance between the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems. This data is crucial in understanding the physiological changes in pilots’ minds in various flight conditions and forms the basis of our analysis. In flights in the known environment, the study observes a predominance of parasympathetic activity, indicative of a relaxed and focused state. It is characterized by a decrease in heart rate, a standard marker of parasympathetic activation. Pilots exhibit a state of calm alertness, which is necessary for precise control and successful navigation. In contrast, on flights in an unknown environment, there is a marked increase in sympathetic activity, as evidenced by the rise in heart rate. This heightened arousal is a typical “fight or flight” response, preparing the pilot for potential challenges or threats in an unfamiliar environment. The study also explores the implications of these findings for drone pilot training and performance optimization. Understanding the physiological responses to various flight conditions can inform targeted interventions to manage stress and enhance performance. For example, stress management techniques such as biofeedback, which helps pilots monitor and control their physiological responses, and mindfulness, which can improve their focus and attention, could be incorporated into training programs to help pilots better regulate their autonomic responses. In conclusion, this article provides novel insights into drone pilots’ sympathetic and parasympathetic responses in various flight environments. The findings underscore the importance of considering drone operation’s physiological and psychological aspects, with significant implications for training, performance, and safety in the rapidly evolving field of drone technology.