Obstacle Detection System to Improve Mobility of People with Visual Impairment

Visual information is one of the most important factors in the perception of the environment. People with Visual Impairment (VI) have many limitations to explore unfamiliar environments since they lack of vision. Previous works, carried out by other researchers, focus on helping people suffering from VI by using different technologies to improve environment percept, however, none of them analyzes the possibility of avoiding frontal obstacles at face height. That is why in thisarticle we propose a system for detecting obstacles in the superior frontal plane to improve the mobility of people with VI. The proposed system is based on ultrasound sensors and an Android application to process and communicate useful information. The system is low cost, wireless, ergonomic and user friendly. The results indicate that the system is capable of detecting (on average) 80% of frontal obstacles at face height. The implementation of the proposed system can improve the quality of life of people suffering from VI, providing independence in mobility in unfamiliar environments.