Research Article | | Peer-Reviewed

A Low-cost Smart Shoe Solution for Real-Time Obstacle Detection and Location Monitoring in Deafblind Users

Received: 22 October 2025     Accepted: 3 November 2025     Published: 9 December 2025
Views:       Downloads:
Abstract

This paper presents the design and development of a Smart Shoe System intended to assist deafblind individuals in navigating their surroundings safely and independently. The system integrates ultrasonic sensors, vibration motors, active buzzers, and a GPS module, all managed by an ESP32 microcontroller. Ultrasonic sensors continuously detect obstacles in the user’s path, while vibration and sound feedback provide real-time alerts to prevent collisions. The integrated GPS module enables real-time location tracking through a mobile application, allowing caregivers to monitor the user remotely. The system operates on rechargeable Li-ion batteries with a DC–DC buck converter ensuring stable power regulation. Experimental testing conducted in open, urban, and obstructed environments demonstrated approximately 92.4% obstacle detection accuracy and ±5 m GPS precision, confirming the system’s effectiveness in providing reliable environmental awareness and location monitoring. The proposed design is lightweight, portable, and energy-efficient, ensuring comfort and convenience for continuous daily use. This work contributes to the advancement of affordable and practical assistive technologies for deafblind individuals by combining real-time obstacle detection, dual feedback alerts, and GPS-based tracking. The ESP32 microcontroller provides flexibility for future enhancements such as Bluetooth connectivity or AI-assisted navigation. Overall, the Smart Shoe System offers a comprehensive, low-cost, and efficient solution that enhances safety, mobility, and independence for individuals with dual sensory impairments.

Published in American Journal of Science, Engineering and Technology (Volume 10, Issue 4)
DOI 10.11648/j.ajset.20251004.15
Page(s) 203-213
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2025. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Assistive-technology, Deafblind Users, ESP32, Smart Wearables, Vibration Alert, GPS Tracking

References
[1] B. M. Eskofier, S. I. Lee, M. Baron, et al., “An overview of smart shoes in the Internet of Health Things: Gait and mobility assessment in health promotion and disease monitoring,” Applied Sciences, vol. 7, no. 10, pp. 986-1002, 2017.
[2] V. Singh, S. Sindhu, and R. Arora, “BUZZFEET: Blind Man Shoes,” in Proc. Int. Conf. Mach. Learn. Big Data Cloud Parallel Comput. (COMITCon), Delhi, India, pp. 356-360, Feb. 2019.
[3] Gokalgandhi, D., Kamdar, L., Shah, N., & Mehendale, N., “A Review of Smart Technologies Embedded in Shoes,” Journal of Medical Systems, 44(9): 150, 2020.
[4] F. S. Kamaruddin, N. H. Mahmood, M. A. Abdul Razak, and N. A. Zakaria, "Smart assistive shoes with Internet of Things implementation for visually impaired people," J. Phys.: Conf. Ser., vol. 2107, no. 1, p. 012030, 2021.
[5] C. M. Yang, J. Y. Jung, and J. J. Kim, “Development of obstacle detection shoes for visually impaired people,” Sensors and Materials, vol. 32, pp. 2227-2236, 2020.
[6] M. Anisha, S. R. Prakash, and R. K. Singh, “Low-cost smart shoe for visually impaired,” in Proc. Int. Conf. Intelligent Computing and Visualization (ICICV), 2021, pp. 500-505.
[7] M. Ramalingam, E. Chinnavan, R. Puviarasi, and N. H. Yu, “Assistive Technology for Harvesting Footstep Energy in IoT Enabled Smart Shoe for the Visually Impaired,” in 2021 International Conference on Software Engineering & Computer Systems (ICSECS), Aug. 24-26, 2021, pp. 115-118.
[8] S. Rasool and U. N. Dulhare, “Eco-Friendly Auto Lacing Smart Shoes for Fitness and Facile Navigation Using IoT,” in Proc. 4th Smart Cities Symposium (SCS), 2021, pp. 112-117.
[9] Teja Chava, A. T. Srinivas, A. L. Sai, and V. Rachapudi, "IoT based Smart Shoe for the Blind," in Proc. 6th Int. Conf. Inventive Computation Technologies (ICICT), 2021.
[10] P. E. Darney, A. E. Muthu, K. Jeyakumar, R. S. Krishnan, K. L. Narayanan, and Y. H. Robinson, "IoT Based Smart Shoes for Blind People," in Proc. 3rd Int. Conf. on Electronics and Sustainable Communication Systems (ICESC), Coimbatore, India, Aug. 2022, pp. 524-529.
[11] P. Bhongade, S. Girhay, A. M. Sheikh, R. Ghata, S. Ambadkar, and C. Dusane, “Internet of Things-enabled smart shoes for blind people,” in Proc. IEEE Delhi Section Conf. (DELCON), 2022, pp. 1-6.
[12] K. Jeong and K. C. Lee, “Artificial Neural Network Based Abnormal Gait Pattern Classification Using Smart Shoes with a Gyro Sensor,” Electronics, vol. 11, no. 21, Art. 3614, Nov. 2022.
[13] Jabakumar, A. K. (2023). Medical Electronics Based Smart Shoe for Blind People. Journal of Pharmaceutical Negative Results, 14(2), 1911-1917.
[14] A. M. Joseph, A. Kian, and R. Begg, “State of the Art Review on Wearable Obstacle Detection Systems Developed for Assistive Technologies and Footwear,” Sensors, vol. 23, no. 5, 2023.
[15] Jayanthi Pavan Sathvik, Ankit Param, Greeshma Bharath, Uma Guruprasad, Nataraj A. Vijapur, “Embedded Smart Shoes for the Visually Impaired, Indian Journal of Multidisciplinary Research”, 2024.
[16] F. Zare, P. Sedighi, and M. Delrobaei, A Wearable RFID-Based Navigation System for the Visually Impaired, arXiv preprint, 2023.
[17] Rukmini, P. G.; Hegde, R. B.; Basavarajappa, B. K.; Bhat, A. K.; Pujari, A. N.; Gargiulo, G. D.; Gunawardana, U.; Jan, T.; Naik, G. R. “Recent Innovations in Footwear and the Role of Smart Footwear in Healthcare—A Survey.” Sensors 2024, 24, 4301.
[18] A. Almomani, Mohammad Alauthman, Amal Malkawi, Hadeel Shwaihet, Batool Aldigide, Donia Aldabeek, Karmen Abu Hamoodeh, “Smart Shoes Safety System for the Blind People Based on IoT,” Computers, Materials and Continua, vol 76, Issue 1, pp. 415-436, 9 June 2023.
[19] Stanley I. R. Okoduwa, Bernard E. Igiri, Jerry I. Tagang, Ugochi J. Okoduwa, Abraham O. Adeyi, “Therapeutic smart-footwear approach for management of neuropathic diabetic foot ulcers: Current challenges and focus for future perspective,” Medicine in Novel Technology and Devices, vol 23, September 2024.
[20] Muhammad Aiman Mohd Razin, Muhammad Afif Husman, Siti Fauziah Toha*, Aisyah Ibrahim, “Design of Smart Shoes for Blind People,” Design of Smart Shoes for Blind People, vol. 3, No. 1, March 2023: pp. 79-86.
[21] D. K. Chaturvedi, Nisha Verma, “The Future of Footwear: A Survey on Smart Shoe,” August 2024.
[22] Sonal S. Bawankule, Ayush N. Kuttarmare, Aman L. Shahare, Rainali R. Ramteke, Aditi Dewalkar and Mohd. Faizan S. Sheikh, “Smart Shoes for Visually and Hearing-Impaired Individuals,” May 18, 2024.
[23] Asst. Prof. Mukundhan, Abdulla, Mohamad Irshadh, Mohamad Rishwan, Srinivas Sai Prashanth, “Sensor-Enabled Smart Footwear for Enhanced Mobility and Safety of Visually Impaired Individuals,” International Journal of Research Publication and Reviews, vol (6), Issue (5), pp. - 11413-11417, May 2025.
[24] N. Vijayakumar and A. Kumar, "Intelligent Multi-Utility Shoe for Visually Impaired Persons," in 2021 2nd International Conference on Smart Electronics and Communication (ICOSEC), October 2021.
[25] S. Santhi Priya, S. Ch, S. G. Kiran, and S. S. V., “Smart Shoe IoT Project for Blind People,” International Journal for Modern Trends in Science and Technology, vol. 10, no. 2, pp. 563-568, 2024.
[26] A. J. Islam, M. M. Farhad, S. Shahriar Alam, S. Chakraborty, M. Mahmudul Hasan and M. Siddat Bin Nesar, “Design, Development and Performance Analysis of a Low-Cost Health-Care Monitoring System using an Android Application,” in 2018 International Conference on Innovations in Science, Engineering and Technology (ICISET), Chittagong, Bangladesh, 2018, pp. 401-406,
[27] P. P. Sheikh, T. Riyad, B. D. Tushar, S. Shahriar Alam, I. M. Ruddra and A. Shufian, “Analysis of Patient Health Using Arduino and Monitoring System,” Journal of Engineering Research and Reports, vol. 26, no. 3, pp. 25-33, 2024,
Cite This Article
  • APA Style

    Bari, A. A., Antar, M. F. F., Islam, S., Alam, S. S., Esam, N. R., et al. (2025). A Low-cost Smart Shoe Solution for Real-Time Obstacle Detection and Location Monitoring in Deafblind Users. American Journal of Science, Engineering and Technology, 10(4), 203-213. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajset.20251004.15

    Copy | Download

    ACS Style

    Bari, A. A.; Antar, M. F. F.; Islam, S.; Alam, S. S.; Esam, N. R., et al. A Low-cost Smart Shoe Solution for Real-Time Obstacle Detection and Location Monitoring in Deafblind Users. Am. J. Sci. Eng. Technol. 2025, 10(4), 203-213. doi: 10.11648/j.ajset.20251004.15

    Copy | Download

    AMA Style

    Bari AA, Antar MFF, Islam S, Alam SS, Esam NR, et al. A Low-cost Smart Shoe Solution for Real-Time Obstacle Detection and Location Monitoring in Deafblind Users. Am J Sci Eng Technol. 2025;10(4):203-213. doi: 10.11648/j.ajset.20251004.15

    Copy | Download

  • @article{10.11648/j.ajset.20251004.15,
      author = {Al Azim Bari and Md. Farhan Fuad Antar and Sadia Islam and Sadman Shahriar Alam and Naimur Rahman Esam and S. M. Tanvir Hassan Shovon},
      title = {A Low-cost Smart Shoe Solution for Real-Time Obstacle Detection and Location Monitoring in Deafblind Users},
      journal = {American Journal of Science, Engineering and Technology},
      volume = {10},
      number = {4},
      pages = {203-213},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ajset.20251004.15},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajset.20251004.15},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ajset.20251004.15},
      abstract = {This paper presents the design and development of a Smart Shoe System intended to assist deafblind individuals in navigating their surroundings safely and independently. The system integrates ultrasonic sensors, vibration motors, active buzzers, and a GPS module, all managed by an ESP32 microcontroller. Ultrasonic sensors continuously detect obstacles in the user’s path, while vibration and sound feedback provide real-time alerts to prevent collisions. The integrated GPS module enables real-time location tracking through a mobile application, allowing caregivers to monitor the user remotely. The system operates on rechargeable Li-ion batteries with a DC–DC buck converter ensuring stable power regulation. Experimental testing conducted in open, urban, and obstructed environments demonstrated approximately 92.4% obstacle detection accuracy and ±5 m GPS precision, confirming the system’s effectiveness in providing reliable environmental awareness and location monitoring. The proposed design is lightweight, portable, and energy-efficient, ensuring comfort and convenience for continuous daily use. This work contributes to the advancement of affordable and practical assistive technologies for deafblind individuals by combining real-time obstacle detection, dual feedback alerts, and GPS-based tracking. The ESP32 microcontroller provides flexibility for future enhancements such as Bluetooth connectivity or AI-assisted navigation. Overall, the Smart Shoe System offers a comprehensive, low-cost, and efficient solution that enhances safety, mobility, and independence for individuals with dual sensory impairments.},
     year = {2025}
    }
    

    Copy | Download

  • TY  - JOUR
    T1  - A Low-cost Smart Shoe Solution for Real-Time Obstacle Detection and Location Monitoring in Deafblind Users
    AU  - Al Azim Bari
    AU  - Md. Farhan Fuad Antar
    AU  - Sadia Islam
    AU  - Sadman Shahriar Alam
    AU  - Naimur Rahman Esam
    AU  - S. M. Tanvir Hassan Shovon
    Y1  - 2025/12/09
    PY  - 2025
    N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajset.20251004.15
    DO  - 10.11648/j.ajset.20251004.15
    T2  - American Journal of Science, Engineering and Technology
    JF  - American Journal of Science, Engineering and Technology
    JO  - American Journal of Science, Engineering and Technology
    SP  - 203
    EP  - 213
    PB  - Science Publishing Group
    SN  - 2578-8353
    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajset.20251004.15
    AB  - This paper presents the design and development of a Smart Shoe System intended to assist deafblind individuals in navigating their surroundings safely and independently. The system integrates ultrasonic sensors, vibration motors, active buzzers, and a GPS module, all managed by an ESP32 microcontroller. Ultrasonic sensors continuously detect obstacles in the user’s path, while vibration and sound feedback provide real-time alerts to prevent collisions. The integrated GPS module enables real-time location tracking through a mobile application, allowing caregivers to monitor the user remotely. The system operates on rechargeable Li-ion batteries with a DC–DC buck converter ensuring stable power regulation. Experimental testing conducted in open, urban, and obstructed environments demonstrated approximately 92.4% obstacle detection accuracy and ±5 m GPS precision, confirming the system’s effectiveness in providing reliable environmental awareness and location monitoring. The proposed design is lightweight, portable, and energy-efficient, ensuring comfort and convenience for continuous daily use. This work contributes to the advancement of affordable and practical assistive technologies for deafblind individuals by combining real-time obstacle detection, dual feedback alerts, and GPS-based tracking. The ESP32 microcontroller provides flexibility for future enhancements such as Bluetooth connectivity or AI-assisted navigation. Overall, the Smart Shoe System offers a comprehensive, low-cost, and efficient solution that enhances safety, mobility, and independence for individuals with dual sensory impairments.
    VL  - 10
    IS  - 4
    ER  - 

    Copy | Download

Author Information
  • Sections