Copyright © 2018 Authors. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. International Journal of Engineering &Technology, 7 (3.12) (2018) 1081 -1085 International Journal of Engineering & Technology Website: www.sciencepubco.com/index.php/IJET Research paper An Assistive Bag for Blind and Deaf G. Joselin Retna Kumar 1 , Showme 2 , Purva Saxena 3 , Uday Kumar Mamidala 4 , Anupam Pammi 5 1 Associate Professor, 2 Assistant Professor, 3,4,5 Student, 1,3,4,5 Department of Electronics and Instrumentation Engineering, 2 Department of Telecommunication Engineering, 1,2,3,4,5 SRM Institute of Science and Technology, Kattankulathur,Chennai,India *Corresponding Author E-mail: 1 joselinrk@gmail.com Abstract People with disabilities who use visual aids like hearing aid, blind stick for obstacle detection while walking etc. are often discriminated in the society as they are handicapped. The main focus of this paper is to create an assistive device for the visually impaired as well as the deaf to make them socially acceptable without showing their disability to the society by using visible aid. It is incorporated with features like GPS location update, GSM-based messaging system to notify relatives of the location of the user in case of emergency situations and voice recognition based home automation. It uses ultrasonic sensors to detect obstacles and vibration motors to notify the user about the obstacle thus eliminating the use of external device for communication. Keywords— visually impaired, deaf, ultrasonic sensors, vibrating motors, GPS, GSM, voice recognition based home automation. 1. Introduction Navigation for visually impaired and deaf people is a big problem. “India currently has around 12 million blind people against 39 million globally” which makes India home to one-third of the world’s blind [1]. Over 21 million people in India are suffering from one or the other kind of disability out of which the people with vision disability accounts to 48.5% and having hearing disability accounts to 5.8% according to 2001 census data. In the past decades, many devices have been made for the blind to assist them which are available in various forms like portable, wireless, wearable etc. Features like RFID, GPS technology are the most recent technologies that are used these days. But the problem with RFID technology for navigation is that it can be used only for a defined known area which requires complex setup. Also, internet connection is required at all times for GPS technology when used for navigation purpose. With the development of modern technology many different types of navigational aids have been developed to assist the blind people commonly known as electronic travel aid [2]. People with impaired vision mostly use cane or guide dogs for navigation. Smart cane is one of the most common assisting tool for the visually impaired people [3]. The main advantage is low cost. But still these systems are of limited assistance which are not hands-free. Also, it can be used only for recognizing above the knee obstacles. [4] Other smart aids include “An Effective Fast Response Smart Stick for Blind People” [15], which is a stick incorporated with infrared sensor to detect the objects present around them. The major disadvantage of this proposed method is that it can operate only during day time. Another proposed aid is The NavBelt which is a navigational aid and consists of a portable computer, ultrasonic sensors and stereophonic headphones in which the computer applies navigation and obstacle avoidance technologies that was originally developed for mobile robots[4]. The “2D vibration array as an assistive device for visually impaired”, proposed methodology deals with implementation of a wearable 2D vibration array (miniature vibrators) connected to a portable computer and two miniature cameras (attached to a pair of dark glasses), a microphone and an ear speaker. The cameras capture images from the surrounding environment and after appropriate processing 3D representations are created. These 3D space representations are projected on the 2D array attached to the person’s chest vibrates in various levels corresponding to the distances of the surrounding obstacles [5]. According to the voice operated outdoor navigation system for visually impaired persons describes a Navigation system that makes use of GPS (the Global Positioning System), voice and ultrasonic sensor for obstacle detection. [14] which uses voice commands to guide the bind person through an unknown environment. This model cannot be used for people having hearing impairment and is possible only where internet connection is available at all times. Hence the major objective of the proposed idea is to create a hands-free device incorporated with MaxSonar –ultrasonic obstacle detection sensors which detect the obstacles in front, top, bottom, pit holes and sideways thus providing maximum coverage area for the user. When obstacles are detected, the MaxSonar sensors located at shoulders and side of the smart bag generates analog /PWM signals which are received by microcontroller and are processed using algorithm to analyze the obstacle position and produce specific vibration patterns to the vibration motors placed on the back of the bag. The bag also includes a panic safety button which when pressed during emergency situations, sends the location of the user to his relative using GPS and GSM module. [13] By using this normal looking smart bag, the blind person can easily navigate his path with safety. With the smart features incorporated in this bag, it makes the person more self-reliant and independent. It will make their life simpler and they can live with confidence and dignity without showing their disability by using visible aids.