Smart Walker for the Visually Impaired

Visually impaired individuals often employ canes or guide dogs to help navigate complex environments. Individuals who are both visually and mobility impaired encounter greater difficulty, since conventional aids do not integrate well with walkers or rollators. In this paper we propose a smart walker architecture that is augmented with depth-sensing cameras that detect and recognize obstacles that may endanger the user, as well as obtain their distance from the user. This information is conveyed to the user through a haptic interface on the walker. Our design helps protect the user from colliding with obstacles in his/her path. In comparison with traditional mobility methods, the smart walker allows the user to navigate the environment faster and with less physical and cognitive load. Compared to previous designs, our approach completes this task at a significantly lower cost per unit.