Project Summary
MakeSense is committed to advancing technology that provides high-resolution navigational guidance to individuals with severe visual impairments. Through the use of computer vision and innovative technology, MakeSense aims to revolutionise how the visually impaired community navigates through public spaces, ultimately improving mobility and independence for a significant minority of UK citizens. As part of this mission, MakeSense is developing a bespoke railway station navigation application for visually impaired users. The app will utilise established Augmented Reality technology and smartphone sensors for obstacle avoidance. The integration with a haptic interface developed during TRIG 2021 will provide further guidance. Trials with visually impaired volunteers in collaboration with Bravo Victor and Imperial College London will validate performance.
Project Achievements
– Development of an effective navigation technology which leverages Augmented Reality in a totally new way. – Filing of a UK patent with novelty found during the patent search. – A journey from Bermondsey to Canary Wharf on the Jubilee line was demonstrated using a derivative our Place and Trace technology. – We secured £100k of investor capital to further investigate the project outcomes. – We tested our tech in live environments with vision impaired persons.
Conclusions
While the concept showed promise and certain practical advantages, it wasn’t without challenges. Issues, such as the necessity for precision in initial setup and limitations in indoor navigation are surmountable but require further refinement prior to deployment. Nonetheless, the project demonstrated that with innovation and user-centric design, AR can be harnessed for real-world, impactful solutions that cater to vision impaired persons.
Next Steps
MakeSense is actively addressing challenges discovered during its research phase. Key concerns are stabilizing AR anchors and improving indoor navigation. A solution found involves using Google’s GeoSpatial API, which offers expansive AR capabilities. Despite AR’s current constraints, the technology is rapidly advancing. Moreover, a feature enabling live teleassistance from sighted individuals may help in situations where AR anchors destabilize or if a traced route is unavailable. After securing £100k in pre-seed equity financing in May 2023, MakeSense aims to raise £2.5 million in the next half-year. Their goal is to launch the Magic Torch product by 2025. While the AR Place and Trace project remains one of our initiatives, we are exploring other promising approaches.
