Vision: A Torch For The Visually Impaired

http://www.instructables.com/id/Vision-a-Torch-for-the-Visually-Impaired/

Vision is a torch shaped device to help blind people navigate with greater comfort, speed and confidence, whilst making use of ultrasonic waves to detect nearby obstacles and to notify the user through vibrations and beeps of a buzzer. The idea was inspired from bats, who also use sound waves of high frequency to move.

According to an estimate, there are 285 million visually impaired people in the world. The loss of one the most important human senses causes them a lot of hardships in daily life. The affected ones have been using the traditional white cane since many years which although being effective, still has a lot of disadvantages. Another way has been a pet animal such as a dog which is not very common for being comparatively expensive. So the aim of this project is to develop a cheap, yet more efficient way to help the visually impaired navigate with more speed and confidence

As seen in the picture, the device is lightweight and handy with the fact that it does not emit light. Instead, it uses ultrasonic waves to detect obstacles and notify the user through vibrations and sound beeps. This overcomes the problem of not being very flexible as in the case of white cane.

Features:

• Uses Ultrasonic ranging method to detect nearby obstacles such as walls, tables, doors, chairs and other furniture.
• The user gets notified about obstacles through sound and vibration. T
• he intensity of vibration and rate of beeping increases with decrease in distance.
• The device only reacts when the trigger buttons are pressed.

Why "Vision?"

Practically talking, this device will help the blind to navigate without holding a stick which is a bit annoying for them. When used on a large scale, with improvements in the prototype, it will drastically benefit the community.

Here is a video of the project in action:

http://www.instructables.com/id/Vision-a-Torch-for-the-Visually-Impaired/