IoT-Enabled Smart Shoes for Visually Impaired Navigation and Safety

Navigating safely and independently is a significant challenge for visually impaired individuals due to their inability to detect obstacles, uneven terrain, and other environmental hazards. Traditional mobility aids such as white canes provide limited assistance, and guide dogs are costly and require extensive training. To overcome these limitations, this research introduces an IoT-enabled smart shoe designed to enhance mobility and safety. The proposed system utilizes ultrasonic and infrared sensors to detect obstacles in real time, an Arduino Nano microcontroller for processing sensor data, and a Bluetooth module to transmit alerts to a connected mobile application. The system provides audio feedback through earphones, allowing users to receive real-time verbal alerts for safe navigation. Experimental evaluation demonstrates that the smart shoe achieves high accuracy in obstacle detection (96%), offers stable and reliable real-time feedback, and is designed for ease of use. A comparison with existing assistive technologies highlights the system’s effectiveness in improving independent mobility and reducing collision risks. Future developments may include AI-based navigation enhancements, extended battery life, and advanced sensor fusion for better adaptability in complex environments.