A smart walker for the frail visually impaired

This paper describes the design of a smart mobility aid for frail, visually impaired people. The device is based on the concept of a walker or rollator-a walking frame with wheels. This work is motivated by the fact the frail visually impaired have extreme difficulty using conventional mobility aids such as guide dogs or long canes. The device, which is called PAM-AID (Personal Adaptive Mobility Aid) has two modes of operation, manual and assistive. In manual mode the device behaves very much like a normal walker and, in addition, provides the user with information on the environment via a speech interface. In assistive mode, the PAM-AID assumes control of the steering and navigates safely around obstacles. The PAM-AID was evaluated in residential homes for the elderly.