SEEstem Wearable navigation device for people with visual impairments

Visually impaired people represent a large amount of the Brazilian population. However, although a wide range of existing legislation ensures accessibility, most of the Brazilian public spaces are inadequate to accommodate disabled citizens. In this context, this paper presents a digital device, which combines the smartphone technologies with Arduino microcontrollers, for orientation and obstacle detection. We tested the minimum viable product and the first vest prototype through a user-centered usability test, which combines HCI assessments to other techniques, such as semi-structured interviews. As known, these wearable devices and mobile applications are in the center of the Internet of Things discussion. This study is expected to be an alternative for the urban mobility of visually impaired people, allowing them to have a more active and independent behavior in public spaces.