Training Indoor and Scene-Specific Semantic Segmentation Models to Assist Blind and Low Vision Users in Activities of Daily Living

Goal: Persons with blindness or low vision (pBLV) face challenges in completing activities of daily living (ADLs/IADLs). Semantic segmentation techniques on smartphones, like DeepLabV3+, can quickly assist in identifying key objects, but their performance across different indoor settings and lighting conditions remains unclear. Methods: Using the MIT ADE20K SceneParse150 dataset, we trained and evaluated AI models for specific indoor scenes (kitchen, bedroom, bathroom, living room) and compared them with a generic indoor model. Performance was assessed using mean accuracy and intersection-over-union metrics. Results: Scene-specific models outperformed the generic model, particularly in identifying ADL/IADL objects. Models focusing on rooms with more unique objects showed the greatest improvements (bedroom, bathroom). Scene-specific models were also more resilient to low-light conditions. Conclusions: These findings highlight how using scene-specific models can boost key performance indicators for assisting pBLV across different functional environments. We suggest that a dynamic selection of the best-performing models on mobile technologies may better facilitate ADLs/IADLs for pBLV.