ABSTRACT
This survey paper addresses some issues related to the application of computer vision techniques to improve the welfare of people with special needs. The main problems and current work on topics like sign language processing and wheelchair control will be presented. The paper also introduces an ongoing project that aims at creating a free software environment that will include implementations of a large amount of computer vision, pattern recognition and machine learning techniques, tuned to the problems related to the digital inclusion of people with special needs. The software will also serve as an experimental environment, where new techniques will be implemented, tested and compared.
