{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,13]],"date-time":"2026-02-13T19:11:26Z","timestamp":1771009886502,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":52,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"5","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2017,5,6]],"date-time":"2017-05-06T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1494028800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Sensors"],"abstract":"<jats:p>It is difficult for visually impaired individuals to recognize escalators in everyday environments. If the individuals ride on escalators in the wrong direction, they will stumble on the steps. This paper proposes a novel method to assist visually impaired individuals in finding available escalators by the use of smartphone cameras. Escalators are recognized by analyzing optical flows in video frames captured by the cameras, and auditory feedback is provided to the individuals. The proposed method was implemented on an Android smartphone and applied to actual escalator scenes. The experimental results demonstrate that the proposed method is promising for helping visually impaired individuals use escalators.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/s17051057","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2017,5,8]],"date-time":"2017-05-08T11:45:16Z","timestamp":1494243916000},"page":"1057","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":11,"title":["Smartphone-Based Escalator Recognition for the Visually Impaired"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"17","author":[{"given":"Daiki","family":"Nakamura","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Computer Science, University of Tsukuba, 1-1-1 Tennodai, Tsukuba 305-8573, Japan"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-5703-2535","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Hotaka","family":"Takizawa","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Computer Science, University of Tsukuba, 1-1-1 Tennodai, Tsukuba 305-8573, Japan"}]},{"given":"Mayumi","family":"Aoyagi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Aichi University of Education, 1 Hirosawa, Igaya, Kariya 448-8542, Japan"}]},{"given":"Nobuo","family":"Ezaki","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Toba National College of Maritime Technology, 1-1 Ikegami, Toba 517-8501, Japan"}]},{"given":"Shinji","family":"Mizuno","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Aichi Institute of Technology, 1247 Yachigusa, Yakusa, Toyota 470-0392, Japan"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2017,5,6]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","unstructured":"WHO (2014, August 01). 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