The SaveGuard Cane

What were the needs or pain points that you attended to and identified when you were solving problems faced by the Contest Masters?"

Fully blind or low vision individuals having difficulty while using mobile applications. Most of the mobile applications are designed for individuals with normal vision. Some tasks requiring precise button presses in specific areas become a challenge for them. Consequently, calling emergency services requires more time. This might lead to a delay when crucial assistance is needed.

In addition, the current market available canes lack of the emergency function which can direct inform the guardian for the immediate action. Therefore the emergency on the SaveGuard cane tend to tackle this problem and provide the assistance when needed. Last but not least, the costing for the SaveGuard Cane is lower compare to all the market available smart cane. This SaveGuard cane is implemented with several functions such as GPS tracking, emergency SMS, and a custom mobile app but also target to be affordable to everyone. The expected selling price for SaveGuard cane is about $99, which is far lesser than what equivalent price in the market cane. The price can be lower down again if having mass production from the company.

Introduction

In 2020, the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness launched the Vision Atlas in Malaysia, revealing a staggering 4 million people with vision loss. Among them, 160,000 were fully blind. Most reside in villages, lacking access to advanced visual care found in towns. This situation exacerbates their vision deterioration over time, leading them to rely on blind canes or guide dogs for daily navigation and assistance.

When relying on a traditional cane, blind individuals often experience a lack of confidence and anxiety in unfamiliar places. This is cause by the awkward feedback from the cane tip. Navigating through unfamiliar terrains, roads, and changing weather exacerbates the challenge. The fear of getting lost intensifies in non-Wifi or sparsely populated areas, putting them at risk.

While some of them rely on guide dogs but this solution has limitations. Guide dogs need to be trained; it will make mistakes due to lack off effective communication with humans. Additionally, the cost of maintenance and some restrictions on entering certain places like restaurant or public transport make the situation even worse.

In contrast, the SaveGuard Cane is specifically designed for person with vision problem to overcome these challenges. It enhances awareness through audible alerts like buzzers or phone alarms and reflective tapes for nighttime visibility. Beyond emergency support, it aids in navigation and even contributes to training individuals to travel independently, offering a comprehensive solution to empower blind individuals in various situations.

Objectives

• To design a cane specifically for fully blind, low vision and visual impaired people
• To design a smart emergency notification system.
• To design a user-friendly mobile application for fully blind low vision and visual impaired people

Target Users

The target users are fully blind, low vision or visual impaired people. But since SaveGuard Cane serves as emergency or safety cane, it can also be used by elderly, patients, or even hiker

NMEA Sentences

The National Marine Electronics Association (NMEA) sentences are the sentences that formatting the Global Positioning System (GPS) information. The GPS module that has been used is Neo 6M GPS module. The raw NMEA sentences that generated by GPS module are shown in figure below:

The only sentences that used along the project were $GPGGA and $GPRMC.

$GPGGA - Global Positioning System Fix Data

$GPRMC - Time, date, position, course and speed data

SaveGuard Cane logo

The design of the logo was meant to serve as an additional signature for the SaveGuard Cane.