Project Overview

 S.A.V.E.

(Sonic Adaptive Vision Enabler)

"A team member was walking to class one day and noticed a fellow student was using a white cane. He then turned his attention back to his cellphone and had a thought: “Why hasn’t that technology been advanced?” Fixated on this idea, he decided to brain storm on how technology could be used to help people who are blind better navigate and understand their environment. Soon after he explained this to the group. We decided that advancing the technology that people who are blind use every day would be a good objective. The idea of using the biomimicry, fresh in our mind, we theorized that humans could use the same type of sonic detection that bats and dolphins use to navigate their environment. Specifically, we found the concept that dolphins “feel” the sonic feedback with their body. We felt that translating sonic feedback to physical feedback would be a good way to navigate unfamiliar environments for someone without sight."

Global view of completed prototype which features a hat equipped with five ultrasonic sensors allocated to five haptic vibration motors for integrated feedback and a handheld device which houses all the electrical components/power switches as well as an additional ultrasonic sensor and haptic vibration motor for mor acute detection of objects.

The conventional mobility aid of visually impaired individuals is the use of a walking cane. Though advances in this technology have come a long way since its original conception, advanced models come with a heavy price tag; yet still don't provide much more environmental feedback than its predecessors. We propose to remedy this by supplying the impaired individual with full emersion into their environment by utilizing their sense of touch. The system will utilize a concentric series of ultrasonic sensors in conjunction with haptic vibration motors to provide positive feedback to the user. Our system will utilize a technique similar to echolocation to navigate obstacles and locate objects within a 5-meter radius. The immediate foreseeable challenges and tasks of this project will be programming, circuitry, and integration of the device. Upon completion of this project we will deliver a functional prototype headgear unit as well as a report containing supportive data and test conclusions.

Overview of initial circuit design.

Overview of initial project design on scale.