Desarrollo de un sistema de navegación para la asistencia de la actividad física acuática en personas ciegas

Abstract

Aquatic physical activity is presented as one of the best choices that reduce the effects of sedentary lifestyle in blind people, being one of the most attractive to this population. However, among the determinant barriers that hinder their development, is the lack of appropriate technologies of navigation that facilitate the displacement and the orientation in aquatic scenarios as swimming pool. Existing devices are primarily focused on obstacle recognition and were designed, mainly, as support tools for Paralympic athletes. In the framework of the applied research, following the methodology of design engineering and product design, a navigation system for the assistance of the physical activity in blind people which integrates both principles: the detection of obstacles and the orientation in space was developed. This process was performed in five stages: recognition of user needs, definition of product based on these needs, conceptual design, prototype construction and development of user interface. In accordance with metrics and requirements established during the stages of the process, in contrast with the available technologies, the system obtained included several features in its design, in addition to orientation and obstacle recognition, such as ergonomics, autonomy, ease of handling and measurement of the physical activity. Aspects such as security, reliability and availability will be evaluated in a subsequent stage of validation.