The objective of this project is to develop an optimal path from one point to another on a user’s viewing device to help navigate areas like grocery stores to aid cognitively impaired individuals.
Sponsored by: RERC on AAC
Team Members
Avitej Iyer Nicholas Orf Nidhi Swamy Kunmao Yu Zhengbang Fan Xiaolong Lin
Instructor: Steven Shaffer
Project Poster
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Project Video
Project Summary
Overview
RERC on AAC is a collaborative center based out of Penn State committed to advancing knowledge and producing innovative engineering solutions in augmentative and alternative communication (AAC). The goal of the RERC on AAC is to develop technologies for those with both developmental and acquired disabilities to achieve the basic human right of communication, and to maximize their participation in education, employment, health, and community activities. Our goal was to build upon work done by a previous capstone group in the form of a Unity application to implement an augmented reality (AR) based navigation system that is fully functional in an indoor setting. Throughout this project, our group navigated the challenges of building an indoor navigation app including implementing an effective method to scan and save various ‘maps’, finding the most efficient path from the user’s current position to the destination way-point, adding an AR arrow to direct the user along the path, as well as various UI considerations to make the app as user-friendly as possible.
Objectives
– Gain a full understanding of indoor navigation techniques as well as challenges faced by those with cognitive or communicative disabilities, and implement an effective method to the Unity project.
– Develop an algorithm to scan and save maps of indoor areas to the cloud for later use.
– Have a fully functional navigation system that guides the user along the optimal path and notifies them when they have reached their destination.
Approach
– Research forms of GPS-based navigation, as well as indoor navigation techniques to determine the ideal method to proceed with. In the end, GPS-based navigation proved to be inaccurate within an indoor setting.
– Explore existing products such as the Vuforia Engine to find an effective method of scanning and localization of maps.
– Develop an A* algorithm to find the most optimal path to the destination, taking into account obstacles such as walls, counters, etc.
– Incorporate the A* path-finding algorithm with the engine to allow for straightforward mapping and seamless transition to navigation.
– Implement UI features to be able to switch between navigation and mapping, as well as the ability to switch between maps.
– Perform testing on the application in various settings in order to iron out bugs as well as improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the application.
Outcomes
– Fully functional AR-based indoor navigation application, working on Android devices.
– Path-finding from any position on the saved map to the destination way-points with 90% accuracy.
– The sponsors have a tool that they can use and build upon to further their goal of improving the day-to-day lives of those affected by disabilities. The application has a wide variety of use cases including navigating a supermarket or other indoor locations which can be an intimidating task.