An Intelligent Walking Stick for the Visually-Impaired People (2025)

InnoVision: An Advanced Navigation Aid for Visually Impaired Individuals Using GPS, GSM, and Sensor Technologies

Bobby Rodriguez III, Vincent Aquaitan, Christian Jun Verallo, Seroll Agpad, Lian Jashcha Abarte

Globally, an estimated 285 million people live with significant visual impairments, underscoring a critical need for effective navigation aids that promote independence and safety. Traditional navigation aids, such as white canes and guide dogs, are limited in detecting obstacles and ensuring user safety. This gap highlights the urgent need for innovative solutions that leverage technology to enhance mobility for visually impaired individuals. Consequently, this study aims to develop and evaluate a smart blind stick integrated with GPS, GSM, and sensor technologies. This blind stick was equipped with advanced sensors (i.e., ultrasonic and water level sensors) and modules specifically chosen for their potential to improve navigation and safety for visually impaired users. The research methodology employed Agile Scrum, focusing on iterative development, user-centric design, and continuous evaluation. Three evaluation techniques were used to assess the final product: sensor accuracy assessment, usability testing, and system general performance evaluation. The first assessment aims to measure the accuracy of sensors in estimating the distance between the device and obstacles of varying materials in the simulated environment. The results indicated a high level of accuracy, with an average computed error of 0.04. In the second stage, ten individuals volunteered to utilize the device in the simulated environment, followed by completing a standardized 20-item usability instrument. The outcome showed that the device exhibited a remarkably high level of usability (M=6.17, SD=0.88). The system reached an excellent performance level during the final evaluation, averaging 91.43%. These findings suggest that the proposed smart blind stick is accurate, user-friendly, and effective.

2024, Philippine Journal of Science, Engineering, and Technology, №1, p.18-26

Smart Wearable Shoes Using Multimodal Data for Visually Impaired

Ann Nosseir

2022, Lecture Notes in Networks and Systems Proceedings of Seventh International Congress on Information and Communication Technology, p.1-18

Prototype of a device adaptable to walk-sticks with a system to communicate the visible spectrum to blind people.

Sebastián Diaz-Pabón, Sebastián Murcia-Orozco, Juan Diego Pimiento Serrano, Carlos Andrés Torres-Ramírez, Jose Luis Sarmiento Ramos, Diana Martinez Reyes

This project aims to design and build a device adaptable to canes for blind people that allows them to know the color of everyday objects through a tactile response. The prototype of the device identifies the colors by means of the TCS3200 color sensor that, when detecting the light reflected by the objects, converts it into an electrical signal to later process it with the Arduino Nano microcontroller and thus generate a tactile response using a servomotor. For this purpose, mechanical and electronic designs of the color recognition and representation systems using the Feelipa color code were developed, and a functional prototype of the adaptive device that identifies primary colors was developed. Algorithms for the classification of secondary colors from their RGB values continue to be developed, and the mechanical designs are being improved to take into account aesthetic and ergonomic aspects that facilitate their use

2023, I+ T+ C- Research, Technology and Science, №17

A META-ANALYSIS ON OBSTACLE DETECTION FOR VISUALLY IMPAIRED PEOPLE

N. VEERANJANEYULU, Department of Information Technology, Sree Vidyanikethan Engineering College, Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh, India, K. K. BASEER, Department of Information Technology, Sree Vidyanikethan Engineering College, Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh, India, V. S. ASHA, Department of Information Technology, Sree Vidyanikethan Engineering College, Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh, India, PRAKASH T. MADHU, Department of Information Technology, Sree Vidyanikethan Engineering College, Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh, India

2019, i-manager’s Journal on Pattern Recognition, №1, p.40

The Development of a Smart Stick with SMS Emergency Location Feature for the Blind

Amirah Lily Joy B. Delgado, Kristien Alexis L. Aquino, Nathaniel G. Sombero, Andre Nixon J. Delgado

Abstract: As humans tend to be reliant on their sense of sight to gather information about their surroundings, this allows them to feel safe and connected. White canes have been a common solution to visual impairment concerns however it was shown that such tools are still unable to resolve problems pertaining to obstructions on height level. This paper aims to create a smart stick which is able to resolve such concerns while including an emergency button feature that will inform emergency contacts via SMS of the location of the user once pressed. The gathered results will answer the following (a) reliability of the smart stick’s detection of obstructions, (b) effect of the environment to the performance of the device, and (c) effect of the distance between the user and emergency contact to the speed of transmission if the emergency button is pressed. It was found that the smart still is reliable in terms of detection with a high accuracy percentage and is able to determine if stairs are going up or down, the environment has little effect on the performance of the smart stick, and if the distance is farther the speed of transmission is more consistent.

2024, International Journal of Latest Technology in Engineering Management & Applied Science, №8, p.181-191

Smart Stick for Blind

B. A. Sujatha Kumari, N. Rachana Shree, C. Radha, Sharanya Krishnamurthy, Saaima Sahar

2020, Lecture Notes on Data Engineering and Communications Technologies Innovative Data Communication Technologies and Application, p.586-593

Smart Blind Stick for Visually Impaired People

Hung Quoc Nguyen, Anh Hoang Lan Duong, Man Dinh Vu, Thinh Quoc Dinh, Hoan Thanh Ngo

2021, IFMBE Proceedings 8th International Conference on the Development of Biomedical Engineering in Vietnam, p.145-165

Multi-Functional Blind Stick for Visually Impaired People

Vanitha Kunta, Charitha Tuniki, U. Sairam

2020, 2020 5th International Conference on Communication and Electronics Systems (ICCES), p.895-899

Smart Voice Navigation and Object Perception for Individuals with Visual Impairments

Sheetalrani Rukmaji Kawale, Shruti Mallikarjun, Dankan Gowda V, K D V Prasad, Anusha M N, Anil Kumar N

2023, 2023 7th International Conference on I-SMAC (IoT in Social, Mobile, Analytics and Cloud) (I-SMAC), p.694-701

Design of Smart Voice Enabled Walking Stick for Visually Impaired

R. Santhana Krishnan, V. Nagaraju, N. Sasikala, K. Lakshmi Narayanan, S. Sundararajan, Y. Harold Robinson

2022, Lecture Notes in Electrical Engineering Distributed Computing and Optimization Techniques, p.357-365