1. BLIND ATHLETES: PROPOSAL FOR A NON- CONTACT GUIDING SYSTEM V. Di Mattia 1, V. Petrini 1, M. Pieralisi 1, L. Scalise 2, P. Russo 1, G. Manfredi 1, A. De Leo 1, G. Cerri 1. 1 Dipartimento di Ingegneria dell’informazione 2 Dipartimento di Ingegneria Industriale Università Politecnica delle Marche, Ancona, Italy

2. INTRODUCTION / NUMBERS / 285 M VISUALLY IMPAIRED PEOPLE 39 M BLIND 246 M HAVE LOW VISION 65% AGED 50 AND OVER 80% CAN BE PREVENTED OR CURED World Health Organization (WHO) : Visual impairment and blindness, Fact Sheet N°282, August 2014

3. 21 Maggio, Sessione 7: Stili di Vita e NutrizioneBlind Athletes: Proposal for a Non-contact Guiding System – UNIVPM INTRODUCTION Bulky Low accuracy Complex and slow signal processing Sensitivity to natural light Unable to detect small apertures No protect against suspended obstacles

4. 21 Maggio, Sessione 7: Stili di Vita e NutrizioneBlind Athletes: Proposal for a Non-contact Guiding System – UNIVPM GUIDE RUNNING FOR BLINDS Need of a contact with the guide Need of an «adeguate» running guide (often more than one)

5. 21 Maggio, Sessione 7: Stili di Vita e Nutrizione EM GUIDING SYSTEM: THE IDEA ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) x y z 2 m 3 m 2 m EM «walls» Transmitting units Receiving unit Distance unit

6. 21 Maggio, Sessione 7: Stili di Vita e NutrizioneBlind Athletes: Proposal for a Non-contact Guiding System – UNIVPM TRANSMITTING UNIT Working frequency: 10.47GHz Half Power Beam Width (HPBW) < 10° Side Lobe Level (SLL) < -20dB

7. 21 Maggio, Sessione 7: Stili di Vita e NutrizioneBlind Athletes: Proposal for a Non-contact Guiding System – UNIVPM EM “WALLS”

8. 21 Maggio, Sessione 7: Stili di Vita e NutrizioneBlind Athletes: Proposal for a Non-contact Guiding System – UNIVPM RECEIVING UNIT

9. 21 Maggio, Sessione 7: Stili di Vita e NutrizioneBlind Athletes: Proposal for a Non-contact Guiding System – UNIVPM RECEIVING UNIT ANTENNA

10. EM receiving and guiding system

11. TESTS Mr. Andrea Cionna Record : 2h 31’ 59’’ maratona Roma 2007 Bronzo : maratona Atene 2007 Bronzo : 10000 m Atene 2007 17m 20m Note: In a test vs white cane the EM guided system allowed a smaller travel time (-38%).

12. 21 Maggio, Sessione 7: Stili di Vita e NutrizioneBlind Athletes: Proposal for a Non-contact Guiding System – UNIVPM DISCUSSION Non-contact guiding apparatus for visually impaired runners. Improvement of the quality of training. Applicability for other sport/leisure activities (swimming, cycling, walking, etc.). Tuning of the system for operative conditions. Testing with VI users. Looking for collaboration: Producers (user interface) VI users

13. Thank you for your attention Lorenzo Scalise Università Politecnica delle Marche l.scalise@univpm.it