Guiding Shirt : Aiding the Visually Impaired Using Wearable Technology

Abstract: The purpose of this thesis was to research how wearable technology mounted on the torso can be used to aid the visually disabled, particularly in their ability to move around in the world. The project was divided into two parts: the first on how to help them avoid obstacles in their paths, the second on how to help guide them to a specific destination using a navigation system. The obstacle avoidance system is composed of a number of ultrasonic sensors for distance measuring purposes, each of which are paired to their own vibration motor which provides a tactile feedback to the person. The intensity of each vibration motors are proportional to the distance measured by the corresponding ultrasonic sensor, allowing for the user to get an intuitive feeling of the distance to various objects in the space surrounding them. The navigation system is composed of a GPS sensor, magnetometer and a collection of stored GPS coordinate checkpoints. By comparing the real-time position of the user with a stored goal GPS coordinate, a guiding direction and a distance measurement is calculated. The distance measurement is used to keep track of when a new goal GPS coordinate should be loaded. The magnetometer is used as a compass and its value is compared to the guiding direction, providing a degree error. Tactile feedback is provided using vibration motors, making the user aware of how they should turn their body.