Uasisi: a modular and adaptable wearable system to assist the visually impaired

Abstract

We present the design and early-stage implementation of Uasisi, a system to assist the visually impaired in navigating physical spaces. In its simplest form, a single wearable device can assist the user by sensing the proximity of objects in the environment and providing vibratory feedback. More devices can be added in a modular way to form a wireless body area network, and this can, in turn, be connected to a cloud infrastructure where data related to the navigational patterns of the user can be analyzed and help in making further predictions. Our system can also adapt to form part of an augmented environment where smart objects communicate and cooperate with each other to provide a more rich and complex navigation experience for the user. We show a series of experiments where various configurations of the system are tested with users who can not see and must navigate spaces previously unknown to them.