Vöron - Vision through earsProviding visual assistance to blind or visually impaired people

Abstract: In this thesis, we propose an assistance system for visually impaired people, using computer vision on a raspberry pi, together with bone conduction headphones. The device captures the images using a camera, detects important objects in the view and generates speech to inform the user about the objects in the way through bone conduction headphones. We did a study about various assistive devices that have already been developed for visually impaired people, and after reviewing several studies we have developed a system that is easy to use, easy to learn, light-weighted (portable) and cost-effective. We designed the system based on exclusive design and the limitations of visually impaired  people. We did a concluding experiment of using the prototype device, outdoor and indoor, and we found that this system is reliable enough to allow a person to understand the objects in the surrounding. The current prototype is still on the slow side for practical use, but there are plans for optimisations that will overcome this limitation.