Smart Walker for Visually Impaired People

Visual impairment is characterized by the decrease in functional abilities inducing an increase in dependencies. Many systems have been developed to help visually impaired people to gain their self-sufficiency during their activities of daily living. A new design concept is proposed which extends navigational assistance to visually impaired people for their independent movement. In this article, a new design concept is proposed to help visually impaired people. The system is made possible by the use of different sensors. Infrared sensors and ultrasonic sensor are able to detect obstacles in front of the walker and provides directional information about obstacle to the controller. In response system will trigger an audible notification to alert the visually impaired if there is an obstacle ahead. Accelerometer sensor made aware the visually impaired of potential fall by buzzer sound indication. Since many walkers available in the market are complex and requires training to use, proposed smart walker provides reliability with future expansion.