Mobility of Visually Impaired People: Fundamentals and ICT Assistive Technologies (Signals and Communication Technology)

The new edition of this book provides the basis for the design of new mobility assistive ICT (information and communication technologies) devices for the visually impaired. The book links philosophy, neuro-cognitive sciences, science of locomotion and engineering sciences. This book proposes a global approach to the complex and not well understood question of mobility (of healthy and visually impaired people). The book provides elements for understanding how the interaction with the space via mobility impacts our brain development and processing. The book provides elements for understanding how it would be possible to perceive the space without sight or in visibility worsened/degraded conditions. The book tries to establish which elements from effective locomotion should be supported in inclusive mobility assistances. The book goes beyond human mobility by providing the basis for humanoid robot mobility using bioinspired mobility models. Its methodological multidisciplinary framework allows analysing other types of non-verbal- interactions with space such as grasping and gesture language. The book presents research and on-going projects world-wide (including those supported by the European Commission), weighted by practical effective implementations by the end–users and the locomotion instructors with mediation of the newest results in computer and engineering sciences. Future research tracks in mobility are also suggested.

Edwige Pissaloux is a Full Professor at the University of Rouen, Physics Department, and closely collaborates with the ISIR (Institute for Intelligent Systems and Robotics) at Paris-Sorbonne University, and the MIT (France-MIT program). She has authored more than 320 journals and conferences papers. Prof. Pissaloux main research interests are the modelling and design of vision systems, cognitive perception systems, and cognitive mobility systems. Her research has been supported by European funds (via EU and FEDER-supported projects), national funds (CNRS, CEA, Dassault, Normandy Region Government), and international projects (France-UK-Mexico, Poland). Prof. Pissaloux is a member of several international advisory boards of universities and research institutes, and teaches in several universities (Australia, Hong-Kong, Canada). She frequently acts as an international expert for several research bodies and European and  international institutions such as the European Commission, NSF/USA, Canada, UK, Australia, China, Switzerland, Latvia, etc. Prof. Pissaloux initiated a series of national conferences such as “Space and its perception: application to design of assistive technologies”, “Eye, gaze and interaction” and “IHAW- ICT for Health and well-being”. She has participated and/or co-animated European Excellence networks. In her free time, Prof. Pissaloux teaches violin for visually impaired children.

Ramiro Velázquez is a Full at the School of Engineering of Universidad Panamericana (Aguascalientes, Mexico). He is past Dean of the Faculty of Engineering, past Vice President for Research, and currently serves as Vice Chancellor (Provost) and member of the Board of Trustees of this university. He received the PhD in Robotics from UPMC-Paris 6 Sorbonne University in 2006. He has authored more than 200 journals and conferences papers. Prof. Velázquez frequently serves as an expert evaluator for the European Commission, the Swiss National Science Foundation, CONACYT (Mexico), COLCIENCIAS (Colombia), FONCyT (Argentina), CONCYTEC (Peru), and MoST (Israel). His main research interests are mechatronic systems, assistive technology, haptic and tactile devices, and human perception. His research projects in assistive devices for visually impaired and blind people have been featured in IEEE Spectrum, CBS news, and BBC Horizons, among others. He is a member Level I of the Mexican National Systems of Researchers (SNI).