Charana Chakshu - IoT based embedded wearable device smart shoe for visually impaired

Sight impaired individuals face numerous obstacles in their daily lifestyle. Their inability to adapt to their daily activities and adjust to the surroundings is one of the major causes for the fatal accidents, tripping, and distraction in navigation. This paper highlights the effective solutions for the intricate challenges encountered by the visually challenged people by giving innovative remedies through wearable technology. A phone application is developed to alert the guardians or the caretakers of the patient if there are any problems and to provide the patient’s location. As the device is tackling the safety measures and health aspects of the visually impaired, the features are incorporated accordingly and many other backup attributes are placed to reduce the risk rate and increase the efficiency of the system. The model consists of two units namely the shoe unit and the phone application unit. The shoe unit comprises various sensors which detect the hurdles, potholes and locations such as ultrasonic sensors, pedometer sensors, accelerometer, GPS module, etc, whereas the phone application unit allows the caretaker to keep a track of the visually impaired person by the phone application ‘Charana Chakshu’. The primary goal of this prototype is to ensure that it is cost effective, stable and reliable.