An Intelligent IoT Navigation System for Visually Impaired Individuals: Design and Implementation

The Smart Hat is an advanced wearable assistive system designed to improve mobility and independence for visually impaired users. It integrates voice-guided navigation, real-time object detection, ultrasonic obstacle sensing, and contextual feedback to enable safe and independent movement. Built on a Raspberry Pi 5 platform with edge computing capabilities, the system ensures low-latency processing while utilizing secure cloud services (Firebase, Firestore, Google Cloud Platform) for data storage and analysis. Real-time remote monitoring is facilitated through Ngrok. Experimental validation demonstrates robust performance in obstacle avoidance, accurate navigation, and responsive feedback across diverse environments. By enhancing user autonomy and confidence, this innovative solution highlights the transformative potential of wearable assistive technologies in improving accessibility for the visually impaired.