Mr.B.Anbazhagan, Mr.V.Nandagopal
Walking safely and confidently without any human assistance in urban or unknown environments is a difficult task for blind people. Visually impaired people generally use either the typical white cane or the guide dog to travel independently. Although the white stick gives a warning about 1 m before the obstacle, for a normal walking speed of 1.2 m/s, the time to react is very short (only 1 s). The stick scans the floor and consequently cannot detect certain obstacles (rears of trucks, low branches, etc.). Safety and confidence could be increased using devices that give a signal to find the direction of an obstacle-free path in unfamiliar or changing environments