Smart Cane for Visually Impaired with Obstacle, Water Detection and GPS

Abstract

Visual impairment is a condition that distresses the structure and functions of the visual system. Many people believed blindness to be anything from seeing light to none at all. In the context of visual impairment, many people have trouble finding their way autonomously in an unfamiliar environment. In most cases, individuals who are visually impaired use the traditional white cane and/or walking cane to walk. Nevertheless, their safety can be compromised while traveling in unknown, unsafe locations. Smart cane has become one of the alternatives to assist visual impaired to eliminate the issues. However, there are some shortcomings in the current development of the smart cane. Therefore, in this paper, we proposed a smart cane by combining it with ultrasonic sensors to detect obstacles, water sensors for detecting puddles, and GPS to track the blind's location. A total of ten respondents with age above twenty years old involved in the functionality test to identify the effectiveness of the proposed system. From the results, the proposed smart cane is shown to be capable of increasing the safety of visually impaired person in unfamiliar, outdoor areas.