Assistive Mobility Technology for Visually Impaired

The layout of physical spaces can create barriers to the mobility of people with visual impairments. On the other hand, technological advancements provide means to help eliminate these barriers. Smartphone apps can guide the blind to navigate through various indoor or outdoor scenarios. Thus, this paper presents a development of an inclusive mobility guide as assistive technology to help the visually impaired through auditory navigation in external spaces. To achieve this goal, a prototype was developed to guide and assist users in external mobility within the Higienopolis campus of Mackenzie Presbyterian University. The approach involves integrating technologies such as Unity, Vuforia, and Google Cloud API - Text-to-Speech to provide targeted auditory information. In conclusion, it was possible to determine that the assistive technology can be implemented as an inclusive solution for the visually impaired. This is because it can stimulate the imagination, allowing the user to construct a vivid image of an environment through their auditory experience, enabling the interpretation of instructions and terrain descriptions in audio form within an assistive guide.