Development and Functional Assessment of Wearable Assistive Device with Vibration Motor for Blind and Vision Impaired Persons (BVIP)

Abstract

World Health Organization (WHO) stated that about 2.2 billion Blind and Vision Impaired Persons (BVIP) worldwide. There are a few types of developed and commercialised assistive devices such as walking canes and Electronic Travel Aids (ETA) to assist them. However, these devices are not hands-free, do not utilize audio output, and lack location tracking features. This study proposes a comfortable, integrated wearable system for blind and visually impaired persons (BVIP) that concurrently detects obstacles and tracks their location remotely. The established algorithm using the Arduino Uno will be integrated into the ultrasonic sensors, and PWM vibration motors before being attached to a wearable jacket. The sensor detection and battery performance tests were conducted. This is to ensure good accuracy of obstacle detection on different surfaces either outdoor or indoor environments also verifying the battery lifespan quality is adequate for daily usage by the user. In conclusion, the proposed hands-free wearable navigation assistive device showed the ability of the ultrasonic sensor in detecting obstacles in indoor and outdoor areas up to 98.66% and 98.0%, with a rechargeable battery performance of up to 7 hours and 45 minutes per cycle. This shows that the device has the potential to help users use it effectively daily.