Obstacle detection techniques for navigational assistance of the visually impaired

The visually impaired people lack visual information to realize the obstructions and obstacles in their path thus making it difficult for them to perform their day-to-day tasks comfortably and efficiently. Digital assistance techniques have proven to be a boon for these visually challenged sections of the society. Detection of an obstacle free-path for an easier and smooth navigation of visually impaired people has been a topic of interest for researchers over the years. Application of obstacle detection is not only restricted to this area but also in the fields of aviation, auto-motives etc. Development of a smart-phone application for local navigation of the visually impaired people is the main focus of the current work. This paper presents the most established techniques for detection of objects and classification of these as obstacles or non-obstacles. The performance of the methods used for obstacle detection is analyzed based on the success rate of detecting the obstacles present in the path of the user.