Smart Haptic Belt: Wearable Obstacle Avoidance System for Visually Impaired Individuals Using Directional Vibrotactile Feedback

Abstract

act—Visual impairment significantly restricts the mobility and spatial awareness of millions of individuals worldwide. While traditional white canes provide basic obstacle detection through contact-based feedback, they are limited to detecting ground-level obstacles and require constant manual operation. This paper presents the design and development of a smart haptic belt—a wearable assistive device that integrates multiple ultrasonic sensors and directional vibration motors to provide 360° obstacle awareness through vibrotactile feedback. The system employs an ESP32 microcontroller to process distance measurements from three to five HC-SR04 ultrasonic sensors positioned at the front, left, and right sides of the belt. Obstacle proximity is communicated to the user through proportional vibration intensity, enabling intuitive spatial perception without the need for vision or hearing. This approach implements sensory substitution principles, translating visual environmental information into tactile signals. Experimental validation across 50 evaluation points yielded an overall accuracy of 88%, exceeding the predefined 80% acceptance criterion. The proposed system is compact, affordable, and designed for real-world indoor environments, making it suitable for visually impaired individuals and elderly users prone to disorientation.