Back to results
US 10,722,421 B2Granted
Obstacle avoidance using mobile devices
AssigneeAT&T Mobility II LLC
InventorLoc Yu
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Methods, systems, and products estimate distances to aid a visually impaired user of a mobile device. As the user carries the mobile device, a camera in the mobile device captures images of a walking cane. The images of the walking cane are analyzed to infer a distance between a tip of the walking cane and the mobile device. The distance may then be used by navigational tools to aid the visually impaired user.
Claims20
A method, comprising:
- pairing, by a mobile device, to a walking cane;
- identifying, by the mobile device, a length of the walking cane based on a cane identifier broadcast during the pairing;
- determining, by the mobile device, a location at which radio signals are received;
- querying, by the mobile device, an electronic database for the location to identify an obstacle, the electronic database electronically associating obstacles to locations including the location at which the mobile device receives the radio signals;
- and
- inferring, by the mobile device, a distance from a tip of the walking cane to the obstacle based on the length of the walking cane.
3 more elements
A mobile device, comprising:
- a hardware processor;
- and
- a memory device, the memory device storing instructions, the instructions when executed causing the hardware processor to perform operations, the operations comprising:
- pairing the mobile device to a walking cane;
- identifying a length of the walking cane based on a cane identifier broadcast during the pairing;
- determining a location at which the mobile device receives radio signals;
- querying an electronic database to identify an obstacle, the electronic database electronically associating obstacles to locations including the location at which the mobile device receives the radio signals;
- and
- inferring a distance from a tip of the walking cane to the obstacle based on the length of the walking cane.
6 more elements
A memory device storing instructions that when executed cause a processor to perform operations, the operations comprising:
- pairing a mobile device to a walking cane;
- identifying a length of the walking cane based on a cane identifier broadcast during the pairing;
- determining a location at which the mobile device receives radio signals;
- querying an electronic database to identify an obstacle, the electronic database electronically associating obstacles to locations including the location at which the mobile device receives the radio signals;
- generating an electronic wave diagram in response to an impact of a tip of the walking cane;
- and
- inferring a distance from the tip of the walking cane to the obstacle based on the length of the walking cane and the electronic wave diagram generated in response to the impact of the tip of the walking cane.
4 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.