An assistive haptic-based obstacle avoidance system for individuals with profound visual impairment
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: This paper presents a lightweight and low-cost wireless electronic system that helps users with profound visual impairment avoid obstacles in an unknown landscape. The system comprises two parts: (1) the ‘sensor module’ which is laser-based and can be worn on the belt, and (2) two ‘haptic modules’ which can be worn on each wrist with its vibrators directly placed on the skin. These two parts communicate wirelessly, which enables the user to comfortably and discretely wear the system. The sensor module creates a representation matrix of the surrounding objects. As an object gets closer, a higher pulse-width-modulation (PWM) duty cycle (i.e., a higher vibratory power) is delivered by the corresponding vibrator(s), indicating the object’s direction and proximity. This obstacle avoidance system was tested on seven individuals between 50 and 78 years of age (mean = 63.5, SD = 9.3 years) with profound vision impairment. The participants were instructed to walk through two path configurations: one with and another without the proposed assistive system. According to our results, significantly (p < 0.05) shorter time (Median = 64s (IQR 32–81) versus Median = 95s (IQR 51–134)) was needed and slightly fewer collisions occurred once they used this assistive system.
Source: Cogent Engineering
Authors: Ghazaleh Ghaffari, André Tagaro Andersson, Per Hallberg, Amin Saremi
Institution: Umeå University
Language: English
Subfield: Cognitive Neuroscience
Field: Neuroscience
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $1,165
Award: G2223699035
OpenAlex ID: W4414403573