Internet of Things Assisted Intelligent Walking Stick for Visually Impaired People to Identify Obstacles

G. Jagajothi, M. Jothiga

Those who are blind or have low vision have a far more difficult time travelling independently. There have been attempts to address the needs of the visually handicapped, but the problems that these solutions have failed to address have persisted. To help the visually impaired with everyday navigation and recognizing persons around them, the project proposes a novel concept for a smart blind stick equipped with a facial recognition technology. A smart blind stick, equipped with many sensors, will be developed as part of this project to assist the visually impaired. The specially-designed stick can detect potential dangers such as stairs, water, vibration, and fire, and it can then notify the visually impaired individual of these threats through haptic and auditory input. A blind person’s loved ones may be immediately notified of any assistance needs with the Stick’s “help me” button, and the device’s Internet of Things (IoT) modem allows for real-time position tracking. An on-board camera allows the blind person to capture images of obstacles as they arise, classify them using object recognition and deep learning, and then get audio cues to let them know what they’re up against. The proposed method establishes a connection to a server in the cloud by means of Internet of Things protocols and an Android web application.

Arduino UNO; Ultrasonic Sensor; Obstacles; Visually Impaired; Blind; Walking Stick; Internet of Things

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