A Review of Some Assistive Tools and Their Limitations

Abstract

World report on Vision by World Health Organization reported that there are at least 2.2 billion people who are Visually Impaired. “The National Blindness & Visual Impairment Survey India 2015–2019” survey report by Government of India reported that the overall estimated prevalence of the Blindness in age 50 or more is 1.99% and the overall estimated prevalence of Visually Impaired in age 50 or more is 13.76%. The above numbers urge researchers to develop advanced assistive tools for Blind and Visually Impaired. There have been several assistive tools already designed to assist and enhance the quality of life for Blind and Visually Impaired. But most of them are limited and confined to specific problems. In this paper, a systematic review of some of the assistive tools for Blind and Visually Impaired is done. The detailed review of existing assistive tools reveals that the factors like user-friendly, ensuring safety, independent mobility, multiple features, and user-centric design need priority consideration while designing such tools.KeywordsAssistive toolsAssistive technologyBlindVisually impairedIndependent mobilityTravel aidsWearable devicesSafetyUser-centric design