Developing and Designing an Innovative Assistive Product for Visually Impaired People: Smart Cane

Innovation is the process of making an idea or something into a good or service that creates value for its stakeholders. In this study, we developed and designed an innovative assistive cane to provide independence for visually impaired people to move around safely. The methodology followed consists of eight phases: product planning, identifying customer needs, establishing target specifications, generating product concepts, selecting product concepts, testing product concepts, setting the final specifications, and then developing a prototype. After collecting customers’ requirements through interviews, and surveys, we started to link each need with a specification in the cane using Quality Function Deployment (QFD) tool. The developed cane is an innovative assistant product as it utilizes the Global Positioning System (GPS) of the user and has a water detector. The developed smart cane has several charging methods such as a lithium battery and a piezo element that generates power through pressure. Product design and development methodology helped us in designing cost-effective products that satisfy the customers’ needs and provide an innovative solution. It is expected that the developed smart cane will make visually impaired people move easier, interact more with the community, reduce their fear of walking alone, and move safely.