IoT-Enabled Smart Mobility Devices for Aging and Rehabilitation

Many elderly individuals have physical restrictions that require the use of a walker to maintain stability while walking. In addition, many of these individuals also have age-related visual impairments that make it difficult to avoid obstacles in unfamiliar environments. To help such users navigate their environment faster, safer and more easily, we propose a smart walker augmented with a collection of ultrasonic sensors as well as a camera. The data collected by the sensors is processed using echo-location based obstacle detection algorithms and deep neural networks based object detection algorithms, respectively. The system alerts the user to obstacles and guides her on a safe path through audio and haptic signals.