Huiying Shen, Ph.D.
Senior Programmer/System Analysist,
(415) 345-2141
hshen@ski.org
Research Interests
My research interests are of two aspests: graphical model/randon markov field and belief propagation, and development of practical algorithms for blind/low vision persons. Current projects include: 1. finding crosswalk, 2. finding text signs in the natural environment, and 3. LCD/LED display reader for Symbian camera cell phone.
Platform for Blind/Low Vision Users
People have built many devices for blind/low vision users. Special, and single purpose devices have inherent disadvantages: being expensive, limited upgrade path, and taking up valuable real estate (A blind person can only carry so many things). Choice of Symbian camera cell phones addresses these problems. A single cell phone can function as many devices: a helper for crossing street, a LCD/LED display reader for many electical appliances, a street name/address reader. After all that, you can still make phone calls with it.
Symbian OS is an open system, with majority of the cell phone market share, with Nokia as its major supporter. The SDK can be frreely downloaded. One can program it in C++, Java, even Python. It is well documented.
Collaborators:
Publication:
J. Coughlan and H. Shen. "Terrain Analysis for Blind Wheelchair Users: Computer Vision Algorithms for Finding Curbs and Other Negative Obstacles." To appear in Conference and Workshop on Assistive Technology for People with Vision and Hearing Impairments (CVHI '07). Granada, Spain. August 2007. pdf
H. Shen and J. Coughlan. "Grouping Using Factor Graphs: an Approach for Finding Text with a Camera Phone." Workshop on Graph-based Representations in Pattern Recognition (GbR '07, associated with The International Association for Pattern Recognition). June 2007. Alicante, Spain. pdf
H. Shen and J. Coughlan. “Finding Text in Natural Scenes by Figure-Ground Segmentation. International Conference on Pattern Recognition (ICPR ‘06). August 2006. Hong Kong. pdf
J. Coughlan, R. Manduchi and H. Shen. "Computer Vision-Based Terrain Sensors for Blind Wheelchair Users." 10th International Conference on Computers Helping People with Special Needs (ICCHP ’06). Linz, Austria. July 2006. Preprint: pdf
H. Shen and J. Coughlan. "Reading LCD/LED Displays with a Camera Cell Phone." 2nd IEEE Workshop on Embedded Computer Vision (ECVW '06), in conjunction with CVPR 2006. New York. June 2006. Preprint: pdf
J. Coughlan, R. Manduchi and H. Shen. "Cell Phone-based Wayfinding for the Visually Impaired." 1st International Workshop on Mobile Vision, in conjunction with ECCV 2006. Graz, Austria. May 2006. pdf.
J. Coughlan and H. Shen. “A Fast Algorithm for Finding Crosswalks using Figure-Ground Segmentation.” 2nd Workshop on Applications of Computer Vision, in conjunction with ECCV 2006. Graz, Austria. May 2006. pdf.
J. Coughlan and H. Shen. “Shape Matching with Belief Propagation: Using Dynamic Quantization to Accommodate Occlusion and Clutter.” Generative-Model Based Vision (GMBV 2004, in conjunction with CVPR 2004). Washington, DC. June 2004. pdf.