Enhancing Blind Navigation with the Use of Wearable Sensor Technology

The goal of this research was to design and develop a wearable device that enables blind users to accomplish regular navigation, especially that of unfamiliar areas, more easily and without the aid of a human assistant. Successful navigation includes the ability to avoid obstacles in the user’s path as well as being able to walk to a specific destination without previous knowledge of the directions. The main concern and need for improvement in existing technologies was the device-user interface, which must be designed for blind individuals. The user interface was carefully designed to maximize the amount of relevant information that could be passed to the user but minimize the distraction and the learning curve as well as being small and discreet enough to allow users feel comfortable wearing it in public. To meet these goals, we took the placement of sensors on the body and vibration patterns used to communicate navigational data to the user into consideration when designing our system. A white cane is sufficient for most obstacle avoidance, but fails to alert the user of low hanging objects, which runs the risk of collision with the head or shoulders. However, interviews with blind individuals showed that because white canes or seeing-eye dogs can protect against most obstacles, navigational guidance was preferred over obstacle avoidance in general. We discovered that the best 2 combination of wearability and functionality is a modular system whose components can be worn according to the needs of the user. The system is designed to work in tandem with the user’s normal obstacle avoidance method, usually a white cane or seeing-eye dog. The two modules developed were an obstacle avoidance device that can be worn on the head or shoulders to provide protection against low hanging objects that canes and dogs don’t provide and a navigation belt that give directional cues to guide the wearer to a specific destination. Both devices use haptic feedback to communicate with the user. This research will enable the blind population to navigate both familiar and unfamiliar areas more easily and help them learn their surroundings more effortlessl