Enhancing Safety for Visually Impaired Individuals: Implementation of iSAFE NAVigation Vest for Early Warning Collision Detection and Decision Algorithm for Walking

Based on the World Health organization (WHO) findings, roughly 2.2 billion people have severe eye conditions or visual impairments without treatment or prevention. Four challenges encountered by the visually impaired are a) lack of measurement system in navigation, b) inability to see at night, c) inability to anticipate the object or obstacle, and d) no familiarity with the environment. The primary goal of this study was to design an assistive device to aid people with visual impairments in navigating. The iSAFE NAVigation Vest detects the distance and position of an obstacle, identifies the obstacle or object ahead, and warns for haptic and audio output. In this study, the decision algorithm for the guidance of the visually impaired was tested using the iSAFE Nav Vest. The iSAFE Nav vest adopts ultrasonic and image processing to analyze the environment and obstacles to avoid. The algorithm showed an accuracy of 96.67% for the decision algorithm test and 84.85% for the controlled indoor-outdoor testing.