Analysis on gait trajectory influenced by forced head rotation

Abstract

We have developed a forced head rotation device to assist visually impaired people with gait navigation. This device comprises a head control unit and an environmental sensing unit based on a depth camera. It aims to control the head direction to avoid obstacles and follow a desired path. In this paper, we estimate the direction of the trunk using the IMU sensor unit of the depth camera and attempt to control the head direction to follow the desired path. Through several experiments, we investigated the changes in gait trajectories due to the head rotation angle to determine a suitable rotation angle.