VGAI: An Artificial Intelligence-Based Intervention to Guide the Visually Impaired

According to the Vision Atlas report by the International Agency for the Prevention of Visual impairment, there are 295 million people worldwide who have moderate-to-severe visual impairment and 43 million people who are completely visually impaired. This paper aims to assist those who are visually impaired and to offer them a useful and autonomous tool. Visually impaired people, either completely or partially blind, lead very diverse and challenging lives. Most of the time, they need assistance from others, although they can occasionally assist themselves using a walking stick to cross streets, get from one place to another, board a bus, etc. On visiting a non-governmental organisation for the blind, it was observed that they are always reliant on someone for daily tasks, like having someone read them a book/text or tell them the colour of the object. At times, they become dependent for seemingly small tasks, so much that they feel like a burden to others and helpless. Some products or apps can assist them, but they are either too costly or not precise enough to have a significant impact. Therefore, a holistic solution that would benefit these people, ease their lives, and increase their level of independence is required. To tackle these issues, an integrated framework utilising artificial intelligence to assist the visually impaired is proposed. This framework (VGAI) aids visually impaired individuals, and offers a smart eyewear with contemporary assistive technologies. This eyewear has a companion app to effectively control and operate the product. This product promises to bring significant difference in visually impaired people’s life and give them a second chance to live life to a better extent.