Development of a Visuomotor Augmentative Sensory Aid for Visually Impaired Persons
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Vision is the primary source of information about the surrounding environment. Human beings rely heavily on
the sense of sight to carry out most of the activities necessary for survival. Visual impairment takes away the principal source of information about the immediate environment of an affected individual. Hence, visual impairment has been reported to limit independence and social inclusion, affecting the quality of life of affected persons. This work aims to develop a socially acceptable Sensory Substitution Device (SSD) known as a Visuomotor Augmentative Sensory Aid to aid blind and visually impaired people in navigating safely and independently. This is achieved using four HC-SR04 ultrasonic sensors that feed distance readings to an Arduino UNO development board. The Arduino performs filtering and processing on the sensor data before feeding it back to the user through customised vibrations. Evaluation of this work shows that the device is portable, user-friendly, lightweight, and socially acceptable, as indicated by the responses of the participants.
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T Technology (General), TK Electrical engineering. Electronics Nuclear engineering