Helping the Visually Impaired See via Image Multi-labeling Based on SqueezeNet CNN

Abstract

This work presents a deep learning method for scene description. (1) Background: This method is part of a larger system, called BlindSys, that assists the visually impaired in an indoor environment. The method detects the presence of certain objects, regardless of their position in the scene. This problem is also known as image multi-labeling. (2) Methods: Our proposed deep learning solution is based on a light-weight pre-trained CNN called SqueezeNet. We improved the SqueezeNet architecture by resetting the last convolutional layer to free weights, replacing its activation function from a rectified linear unit (ReLU) to a LeakyReLU, and adding a BatchNormalization layer thereafter. We also replaced the activation functions at the output layer from softmax to linear functions. These adjustments make up the main contributions in this work. (3) Results: The proposed solution is tested on four image multi-labeling datasets representing different indoor environments. It has achieved results better than state-of-the-art solutions both in terms of accuracy and processing time. (4) Conclusions: The proposed deep CNN is an effective solution for predicting the presence of objects in a scene and can be successfully used as a module within BlindSys.