UMass Amherst Scientist Helps Design System Using RFID Devices to Guide Blind Visitors inside Unfamiliar Buildings From: University of Massachusetts Amherst - 12/16/2010 By: Patrick J. Callahan University of Massachusetts Amherst researchers are developing PERCEPT, an electronic system that assists the visually impaired in navigating unfamiliar buildings. The system features the placement of radio frequency identification (RFID) tags throughout a building to serve as audio landmarks, and a visually impaired person uses an RFID reading device to tune into these electronic signposts and receive verbal instructions through headphones. The team has developed a prototype of PERCEPT and plans to install it in a building on campus next June and begin human testing in the summer. The visually impaired will use a kiosk that has an outline of the building layout represented using raised and Braille alphabet, and they will be able to enter a desired floor, room number, or destination such as restroom or elevator to receive simple directions spoken into their Bluetooth headsets. They also can use their handheld PERCEPT device to scan the RFID tags along the way for additional directions. "This system was created to be deployed in any building, and it's geared toward visually impaired visitors who have never been there before," says professor Aura Ganz. "Our goal is to produce this technology for public buildings everywhere." Read the entire article at: http://www.umass.edu/newsoffice/newsreleases/articles/117625.php Links: Aura Ganz http://ece.umass.edu/faculty/aura-ganz Multimedia Networks Laboratory http://dvd1.ecs.umass.edu/wireless/ Visually Impaired Get RFID help Navigating Unfamiliar Buildings http://sharp-news.com/tag/professor-aura-ganz/ Ganz Creates Seeing-eye Building Directory http://www-new.ecs.umass.edu/news/ganz-creates-seeing-eye-building-directory PERCEPT http://dvd1.ecs.umass.edu/wireless/percept/index.html