A Semi-autonomous Wheelchair with HelpStar

This paper describes a semi-autonomous wheelchair enabled with “HelpStar” that provides a user who is visually impaired with mobility independence. Our “HelpStar” enabled semi-autonomous wheelchair functions more like a personal assistant, allowing much greater user independence. When the user finds themself in an unforeseen circumstance, the “HelpStar” feature can be activated to allow a remote operator to use Virtual Reality technologies to provide helpful navigational instructions or to send commands directly to the wheelchair. This paper demonstrates the successful integration of assistive technologies that allow a person who is visually impaired and using a wheelchair to navigate through everyday environments.