Smart safeguard cane

Blindness and vision impairment remains one of the major problems in Malaysia present among the population in substantial percentages. The latest available figures show that there are 180,000 blind and more than half a million living with moderate to severe vision impairment in Malaysia. Vision impairment challenges include access barriers to information, mobility, social interaction, comprehensive support and healthcare. In response to these challenges, an innovative solution “Smart Safeguard Cane” has been developed. The cane has built-in GPS for navigational assistance, a fall detection system with emergency notification alert, and an user-friendly mobile application designed for visually impaired. The app allows users to find such facilities as toilet or bus stops on their own, which improves equality and sense of secure. The most distinctive characteristics of the Safeguard Cane consist of a fall detector that employs IMU sensors, which trigger GPS-based emergency notifications through Bluetooth to emergency contacts. The emergency buttons on cane also ensure safety by producing an alarming sound and getting attention of surrounding people. The mobile application, created with Kodular, allows simple interaction using swipe and tap gestures and includes text-to-speech option. It supports customizable fonts and high contrast visual themes that help the user to navigate through without any assistance so as to enhance independence. Thus, the low-cost Safeguard Cane not only increases the mobility but also provide the second chance for disabled people in Malaysia to gain independency, and it also can achieve the SDG goals 10 to reduce inequalities