Internet of things in assistive technology for people with visual impairment: A scoping review

Assistive technology (AT) can significantly enhance functional abilities among persons with disabilities. Recently, a rapid advance in computer and Internet of Things (IoT)-based AT has been observed with the integration of Artificial Intelligence. The present scoping review explores a range of IoT-based AT for vision impairments, focusing on their functioning, reliability, and identifying the existing gaps and opportunities for future enhancement. We used the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines. The search was conducted for the articles published between 2020 and March 2025. After the initial screening of both titles and abstracts of 705 articles, 18 full-text articles were selected for the review. It was found that the majority of the papers (38%) are related to smart canes/sticks. The findings indicate that several studies use Raspberry Pi and Arduino platform to make products cost-effective and flexible options for real-time processing. The accuracy of these devices ranges from 87.8% in navigation to 93% in voice control and 100% in object identification. Further, challenges such as usability testing, hardware limitations, dataset constraints, and environmental adaptability remain a matter of concern which need to be addressed in future innovation. Incorporating IoT technologies into vision-assistive devices has substantially improved accessibility. Future research should focus on enhancing real-time performance, AI-driven decision-making, and user-centric designs.