LEO

Leo is a device concept designed to empower the blind and visually impaired, offering them increased freedom by providing assistance in navigating new environments, managing crowded spaces, and avoiding potential hazards.

Low vision has been a prevalent and progressive condition throughout history, affecting millions of individuals worldwide. Currently, there are approximately 257 million people who are visually impaired. This impairment can be congenital or degenerative, and while certain treatments like cataract and corneal operations exist, they remain prohibitively expensive for many.

Blind and visually impaired individuals have consistently voiced concerns about the lack of adaptation to their disability, often experiencing anxiety about external hazards and limited accessibility despite existing urbanization standards. They rely on their other senses, such as hearing and touch, to navigate their surroundings. Many visually impaired individuals use a white cane that vibrates when in contact with the ground or rely on guide dogs or human companions for assistance.

In their daily lives, blind and visually impaired individuals establish routines for mobility, commuting to work, and visiting shops, relying on familiar routes they have memorized. While they strive for independence, they often miss out on leisure activities that individuals with sight enjoy.

Through conversations with a visually impaired association, we were able to identify and document the dissatisfactions they face in their daily lives and their desires for improvements. Urban furniture and infrastructure are often not adapted, with diminishing variations in ground textures that complicate their navigation and diminish their sense of touch.

They experience fear in crowded areas, on roads, and particularly from cyclists whom they perceive as disrespectful. Additionally, they lack confidence when it comes to payment systems and prefer not to depend on others. In our meetings, we also asked them a crucial question: Are they willing to embrace technological and connected devices if they could enhance their safety and independence? Remarkably, 86% responded with a resounding yes.

With this project, our objective is to address the mobility challenges faced by individuals with visual impairments in urban areas. We aim to improve their travel experiences through intelligent guidance systems tailored to their specific needs and desires, prioritizing their comfort, fairness, and freedom.

PERSONA

Persona made from a panel of about twenty blind and visually impaired people.

Jerome is a person who has always been very autonomous and good living. When he became blind at the age of eight, his life changed but did not detract from his unwavering determination. Today, Jerome is an administrative assistant and fully lives his life with his wife in Paris. He has always loved culture, new technologies and walking around and is not afraid to venture alone into the city. He travels most of the time on foot and sometimes uses public transportation. However, he would like cities to be more adapted to his disability and would like the vehicles he can be in contact with (especially bicycles) to be more cautious about him.

AUTONOMY 75%

MOTIVATION 95%

FRUSTRATION 60%

TECHNOLOGIES 75%

IDEATION

Having generated 5 hypotheses of concept we decided to divide the project into several connected objects with a specific white cane and a headset to accompany the visually impaired (according to the values of the project which are to prevent, comfort, ergonomics, palatal biomimetism, freedom, communication)

Goal : The aim is to enable the visually impaired to no longer apprehend complex urban spaces with vehicles and crowds by giving them assistance that allows the optimization of the cane to perceive dangers and obstacles such as a radar.

The visually impaired are ready to equip themselves to be more autonomous, give them self-confidence!

LEO

The connected kit for autonomous mobility assistance dedicated to the blind and visually impaired.

THE KIT INCLUDE :

A CANE
with radar and handle studied for the comfort of the hand

A HEADSET
with bone conduction in a comfortable gel for the head

A RECHARGE STATION
is ideally attached to the wall of the house entrance

A STRAP
to hang the cane to your wrist & avoid the robbery

A MANUAL
written in braille and several languages

TECHNOLOGY AND CONNECTIVITY USED

The connected kit for autonomous mobility assistance dedicated to the blind and visually impaired.

PRINCIPLE

How does each object work and communicate together?

MATERIALS

The texture transition allows and helps the blind people to better understand the object simply by touching it (like the change of materials in the street and sidewalks which allows them to better mentally visualize the place and where to go).