Max Velado: Color Targets: A wayfinding system for the visually impaired

Max Velado, a second-year senior from California State University, Bakersfield, worked with Dr. Roberto Manduchi on developing a wayfinding system for the visually impaired. The project involved programming software for cellphones in which this software will utilize a cellphone’s camera in order to identify and recognize certain landmark symbols. In this case, a circular target consisting of four different colors (i.e., a color-target) acted as the landmark symbol. How this target is recognized is by transferring the image captured by the cellphone into its RGB values and check the differences between the colors. If these differences meet the needed requirements or satisfy the thresholds, the camera will beep to signify that what it identified is a potential target.

Max’s contribution involved working with the previous existing code for this software and modify it in order to be able to recognize twenty-four different locations (twenty-four possible permutations resulting from the four colors). The goal of the project was to develop a wayfinding system that is affordable, portable, natural to use, and ubiquitous (that is, using this device will not draw unwanted attention or would stand out in a crowd). Future work will involve implementing these landmark symbols within a building with each one representing a unique location that would be scanned and recognized by the software. By participating in this program, Max Velado gained more experience as to what constitutes working in a research facility as a graduate student. Has also acquired an interest in applying to the University of California, Santa Cruz for graduate school. The program has also helped him on focusing which specific area in his field of computer science he wishes to pursuit (digital image processing). Overall, this was a very helpful and knowledgeable experience for Max Velado.