Design and Development of Portable Navigation System for Disabled Person using Image, Text and Audio

Visually impaired person experience many issues related to communication, navigation, information access and movement. This impacts their living or economic condition, where the families also suffers and further it affects the society as well. Due to the disability, while walking they often get hit by objects like poles, stones, walls, cars, people etc. Usually, conventional methods are used to support their mobility which includes the long white cane known as smart stick, guide dogs which are the footpath's route finders. After using several methods of communication, they face many challenges while moving in unknown open places. As a result they may get injured severely, and sometimes they face humiliation and lose confidence. There are chances of getting lost also. It is extremely difficult for family members to locate them in such instances. Hence they always need to carry the stick, wherein the obstacles can be identified by tapping. This solution, however, is ineffective for them. A sophisticated smart stick or device is needed to avoid obstructions. Such device can be helpful to detect the object from a far distance, and they can be saved from mishaps. However if unexpected change of environment occurs, these conventional methods are not useful. Researchers are working towards improvement in navigational aids which can help such disabled people. The design of novel navigation system with cutting-edge technology, like wearable computer and ubiquitous computing design along with development of communication support technology and position identification technology are essential. The aim of this research work is to introduce a proficient method to overcome the above mentioned problems and to make a system with Image-Text-Sound conversion that can aid visually impaired person in day to day activities.