SMART BLIND STICK

Abstract: The inability of the traditional mobility aids to provide safe navigation, hazard and real-time communication causes significant challenges to the blind population. In this paper, I will present a smart blind stick which is equipped with IoT sensing, a vision algorithm to practice smart blindness, and a mobile navigation application to play a bigger role in increasing the levels of independence and safety. The suggested system is based on a dual-module design, including an ESP32 integrated circuit with ultrasonic sensors, fire sensor, IMU-based fall detection, GPS, SOS mechanism including emergency messages and real-time identification of hazards, and a camera-based AI vision module, which detects objects and recognizes the surroundings based on a camera and makes independent decisions based on gestures encoded in a sign language. Besides this, it has a special navigation mobile application which gives GPS routes and therefore users are able to navigate the unfamiliar environment safely. Sensor, vision model and navigation services provide information displayed in vibration feedback, audio output and automated location-based information. The proposed system will double the main drawbacks of the traditional blind sticks by integrating navigation assistance with smart sense and emergency communication, providing a fully assistive solution to enhance the mobility, situational awareness, and quality of life of visually impaired people.

Keywords: Smart Blind Stick, Assistive Technology, Internet of Things (IoT), ESP32, Navigation Assistance, Mobile Navigation Application, GPS-Based Navigation, Obstacle Detection, Computer Vision, Object Detection, Gesture Recognition, Emergency Alert System.