Identifying an obstacle in a route

1. A computer implemented method for identifying an object in a route, the method comprising:

capturing, by an image capture device, a first set of images during a first traversal of a first route;

capturing, by the image capture device, a second set of images during a second traversal of the first route;

identifying, by an image analysis module configured to compare the first set of images with the second set of images, an object in the second set of images meeting an obstruction criteria; and

providing a notification of the object which was identified as meeting the obstruction criteria;

wherein capturing the first set of images during the first traversal of the first route includes:

collecting route frequency data for a set of routes traversed by a user;

determining, for a specific route of the set of routes traversed by the user, that a frequency value is greater than a frequency threshold value;

selecting, in response to determining that the specific route has the frequency value greater than the frequency threshold value, the route as the first route.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the obstruction criteria includes a displacement threshold and an object size threshold.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein capturing the first set of images during the first traversal of the first route includes:

creating, in response to receiving a route traversal initiation command, a starting point of the first route;

collecting, in response to receiving the route traversal initiation command, image data and distance data for a path traversed by a user; and

creating, in response to receiving a route traversal termination command, an ending point of the first route.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first set of images and the second set of images are captured by a mobile device including but not limited to one or more selected from the group consisting of smart phones, tablets, smart watches, and wearable computing devices.

5. The method of claim 4 , further comprising determining, using a user interface provided on the mobile device, a set of route preferences and a set of obstruction criteria preferences.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first route is a frequently traversed path by a user between a first location and a second location.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein identifying the object in the second set of images meeting an obstruction criteria further comprises using a digital image processing algorithm configured to use Scale-Invariant Feature Transform (SIFT) techniques to detect one or more objects, and measure one or more dimensions of the one or more objects.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first set of images and the second set of images are captured at a set of image capture locations selected from a group consisting of doorways, corners, hallway entrances, or configurable distance increments.