'Smart' Cane for the Visually Impaired: Design and Controlled Field Testing of an Affordable Obstacle Detection System

Visually challenged persons face great difficulty in independent mobility and use the white cane as a mobility aid to detect close-by obstacles on the ground. However, the cane has two major limitations: 1. It can only detect obstacles up to knee-level. Hence, the user cannot detect raised obstacles like elevated bars and frequently collides with them. 2. The cane can only detect obstacles within 1m from the user. Also, obstacles like moving vehicles cannot be detected until dangerously close to the person. Almost 90% of the blind persons live in developing countries, with a majority below poverty line. Current devices available internationally are unaffordable. In this work the authors present the design and usability features of a low-cost knee-above obstacle detection system and report results from controlled field experiments.

• Corporate Authors:

  Hong Kong Society for Rehabilitation

  302, Tower A, New Mandarin Plaza, 14 Science Museum Road, Tsimshatsui East, Kowloon
  Hong Kong,   China 
• Authors:
  • Singh, Vaibhav
  • Paul, Rohan
  • Mehra, Dheeraj
  • Gupta, Anuraag
  • Sharma, Vasu Dev
  • Jain, Saumya
  • Agarwal, Chinmay
  • Garg, Ankush
  • Gujral, Sandeep Singh
  • Balakrishnan, M
  • Paul, Kolin
  • Rao, P V M
  • Manocha, Dipendra
• Conference:
  • TRANSED 2010: 12th International Conference on Mobility and Transport for Elderly and Disabled Persons
  • Location: Hong Kong , China
  • Date: 2010-6-1 to 2010-6-4
• Publication Date: 2010

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Features: Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: 13p
• Monograph Title: TRANSED 2010: 12th International Conference on Mobility and Transport for Elderly and Disabled Persons, June 1-4, 2010

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Design; Field tests; Knee; Mobility; Proximity detectors; Visually impaired persons; Wayfinding
• Uncontrolled Terms: Canes
• Subject Areas: Design; Pedestrians and Bicyclists; Safety and Human Factors; Transportation (General);

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01360832
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Jan 25 2012 11:57AM