Assisting Blind Persons using GPS and GSM

Blindness is the condition of lacking visual perception due to physiological or neurological factors.

Various scales have been developed to describe the extent of vision loss and define blindness. Total blindness is the complete lack of form and visual light perception and is clinically recorded as NLP, an abbreviation for "no light perception."^[1] Blindness is frequently used to describe severe visual impairment with residual vision. Those described as having only light perception have no more sight than the ability to tell light from dark and the general direction of a light source.

Many people with serious visual impairments can travel independently, using a wide range of tools and techniques. Orientation and mobility specialists are professionals who are specifically trained to teach people with visual impairments how to travel safely, confidently, and independently in the home and the community. These professionals can also help blind people to practice travelling on specific routes which they may use often, such as the route from one's house to a convenience store. Becoming familiar with an environment or route can make it much easier for a blind person to navigate successfully.

Traditional Tools such as the white cane with a red tip - the international symbol of blindness - may also be used to improve mobility. A long cane is used to extend the user's range of touch sensation. It is usually swung in a low sweeping motion, across the intended path of travel, to detect obstacles. However, techniques for cane travel can vary depending on the user and/or the situation. Some visually impaired persons do not carry these kinds of canes, opting instead for the shorter, lighter identification (ID) cane. Still others require a support cane. The choice depends on the individual's vision, motivation, and other factors.

Proposed Idea:

Our idea is to assist blind people using GPS and GSM mobility aid. We can construct a embedded unit which can assist blind people by giving intimation to the family members about the persons location periodically. This can also be done incase of any obstacles detection. 

Operation:

          The user will carry a embedded unit which comprises of a obstacle and vibration sensor. When a obstacle is detected the microcontroller gets the present position using GPS and sends that information to a remote mobile phone as an SMS Message.. So that the family members can know the exact position of the blind person. The unit has an option to send this information periodically so that, the family members can track the blind person’s movement.