A Review of Assistive Devices for Individuals with  Visual Impairments
NicolÃ¡s E. Caytuiro-Silva, Eveling G. Castro-Gutierrez and  Jackeline M. PeÃ±a-Alejandro
Journal of Information Organization, Vol. 14, No. 2, 2024.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.6025/jio/2024/14/2/69-79
Link: https://www.dline.info/jio/fulltext/v14n2/jiov14n2_1.pdf
Abstract:
The loss of sight deeply impacts the lives of numerous individuals across the globe, affecting daily activities and the ability to be independent. New technologies are viewed as potential answers to increase autonomy and inclusion for those with visual disabilities. Despite various tools created to assist with navigation, direction, orientation, and recognizing objects, many are still in the proposal or prototype phase, with minimal impact on the visually impaired community. A comprehensive systematic review is crucial to assess the present state of assistive technologies, the Internet of Things (IoT), and Computer Vision, highlighting their shortcomings, areas for improvement, and opportunities for new developments. This review aims to explore and summarize both academic and practical literature on assistive devices for individuals with visual impairments. By conducting an extensive search in academic databases like IEEE and Scopus, the review will focus on terms such as computer vision, deep learning, and devices designed for the blind or visually impaired. The selection criteria for studies will ensure a focus on high-quality research, and the review will analyze the latest advancements in assistive devices for the visually impaired, evaluating their strengths and weaknesses as described in the literature. The review will employ the University Isabel I systematic review approach, which involves a manual search of 71 articles from journals, conference proceedings, and books. The results will provide insights for future research, offering a current overview of assistive devices for visual impairments. The identified limitations and areas for enhancement will encourage further research in assistive technologies, IoT, and computer vision. The findings suggest a higher number of publications in the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) journal from the United States, with the primary challenge being technological dependence (16.46%), and the most significant contribution being the accuracy in identifying objects of interest (11.70%). This systematic review seeks to deepen understanding of the current assistive tools for visual impairments, emphasising technological progress in Computer Vision and IoT. It is anticipated that future research will be guided towards developing more effective assistive devices.