A navigation system for wheelchairs

A Tokyo based video and image processing equipment manufacturer, For‐A Ltd has been developing a new navigation system for wheelchairs. The new system not only provides navigation information to wheelchair users via cellular phone network but also receives “barrier‐free” information from wheelchairs to automatically create and update the “barrier‐free” map resident in the central computer. Prototypes have been developed and have undergone field‐test to prove their usefulness in the real world. Commercial models will become available next year after successful introduction to a new town project nearby Tokyo International Airport. In the future, this approach would also be useful for automatic navigation for mobile robots such as “seeing‐eye dog” robots, guide robots etc.