Introduction

Visually impaired individuals primarily rely on traditional canes, guide dogs, and sighted guides in order to function in their daily lives. These solutions, among others, all have various limitations ranging from the ability to convey long distances, to being physically intrusive to the impaired individual as well as those around them. Our project aims to address these problems by enabling those with visual impairment to navigate their surroundings using haptic feedback that directly correlates with distance sensing.

System Specifications

1. Detect distances up to 6 meters from the glove with latency of < 250ms.

2. Distance measurements will be within 5% of actual distance.

3. Will non-verbally communicate distance information to the user.

a. Minimal learning curve.

4. Have a rechargeable battery life of at least 6 hours.

a. Will communicate low power warning to the user.

5. Will only require the use of one hand.

a. Able to turn system on/off.

b. Able to communicate charge level to the user upon request.

6. Be able to operate in various weather conditions (rain, fog, snow, wind).

7. Be minimally intrusive to the user.

a. Total weight will be < 150g.

b. Does not impede wrist rotation or hand flexibility.

8. The system should not negatively affect common pets (dogs, cats, rabbits, etc).