Nihon Unisys has developed a mechanism to automatically register various infrastructure information on a digital map by taking an image with a smartphone application using AI / image recognition technology.This mechanism aims to realize a user-fostering digital infrastructure map that grows as users shoot videos.
Until now, Nihon Unisys has collaborated with students of the Information Systems Department of Tsukuba University of Technology, a national university for the hearing and visually impaired, to participate in a one-day internship at Nihon Unisys.In addition, as the first step in realizing a user-fostering digital infrastructure map, we have jointly promoted technical verification of a system that automatically registers Braille blocks on a digital map using a smartphone.
Students of Tsukuba University of Technology walk on the sidewalk around the university, take pictures of the Braille block with a smartphone, and the space recognition platform "BRaVS Library ™" by Nihon Unisys recognizes it and registers it on the digital map. In the demonstration experiment in October 2019, it was verified that the Braille block was recognized with high accuracy.
Electronic data of the installation status of infrastructure equipment such as Braille blocks and fire extinguishers was created only within a limited range by each local government and volunteers, and it was not possible to comprehensively investigate where and what was. rice field.In the future, it is said that it will utilize this mechanism to learn so that it can recognize various objects other than Braille blocks.
A patent is currently pending for the core technology of the user-fostering digital infrastructure map.The realization of such an infrastructure map is expected to improve the QOL of various consumers, including the visually impaired and the elderly.