VISN.

Problem statement

No single wearable combined real-time object proximity, directional awareness, and turn-by-turn navigation in one accessible package. Could we tell someone who is visually impaired where they're going and what's in the way — all through their ears?

Role

PM & designer on a team of 4 — led product direction, owned the UX and interface design, and shaped the hardware and system design of the wearable.

Platform

Wearable hardware + software

Timeline

Rutgers University · Jan – May 2019

The problem

Navigation without sight is a design problem

Outcomes

2nd

of 60 teams · capstone competition

obstacle-detection range

Visually impaired people navigate the world with a combination of memory, muscle memory, and whatever technology they can afford — canes, guide dogs, and a handful of smart devices that each solve part of the problem but none of it completely.

Existing solutions like SUNU (a sonar wristband) or Google Lookout could detect nearby objects or read aloud what a camera saw. But no single system combined real-time object proximity, directional awareness, and turn-by-turn navigation in one wearable, accessible package.

We wanted to build that. A system that could tell you: where you're going, what's in your way, and which direction you're facing — all through your ears, hands-free.

The approach

One system, two layers

VISN was a hardware-software system designed to work as one. The hardware lived on the body; the software ran on the user's phone; they communicated over Bluetooth in near real-time.

Hardware. An Arduino Nano, four Maxbotix ultrasonic sensors, a magnetometer (compass), and an HC-06 Bluetooth module — all wired into a breadboard circuit and enclosed in a fanny pack worn on the chest. The sensors measured the distance and angle to objects in the user's path. The compass tracked the direction they were facing. All of it streamed to the app.

Software. An Android app built in Android Studio. It pulled Google Maps data for turn-by-turn directions and layered in the live hardware stream — so as the user walked, they heard both their route and real-time obstacle alerts: "Object 3 feet ahead. Please move."

VISN circuit diagram with Arduino Nano and sensors — Circuit diagram — Arduino Nano, four ultrasonic sensors, magnetometer, HC-06 Bluetooth module

The design

The decision that mattered the most

We tried a harness first. It held the hardware well — good sensor angles, stable on the body. But it was heavy, conspicuous, and made people feel more disabled, not less. That wasn't acceptable.

The fanny pack was the answer. Worn on the chest, it gave the sensors the right field of view without restricting movement. It was familiar, lightweight, and — critically — something a person might choose to wear anyway. It didn't announce that you needed help.

That decision shaped how I think about assistive technology. The best tools disappear into the life of the person using them. Dignity is a design requirement.

VISN wearable fanny pack with sensor placement — The wearable setup — sensors, Arduino, and compass inside a fanny pack worn on the chest; the Android app handled navigation and obstacle alerts

Current VISN architecture — wearable sensing, phone intelligence, and non-visual guidance working as one loop.

Outcome

We won our capstone.

We shipped a working end-to-end system: real route guidance from the app, live obstacle detection from the wearable, and a reliable Bluetooth link between the two. In outdoor tests, the experience held together in real walking conditions.

We were also explicit about what was incomplete. Directional left/right guidance from the magnetometer was not production-ready by demo day, indoor positioning remained unreliable, and moving-obstacle handling was out of scope for the capstone timeline.

The outcome was clear: the project direction worked. For four people in four months, it was proof that the core system was valuable, feasible, and worth taking further.

Reflection

If I built VISN today

Here's what I didn't know at the time: product design existed as a discipline. I was the project manager and the engineer on this team, and I thought that was the whole job. The fanny pack call, the audio-first interface, the decision to build around dignity — those came from instinct, not training.

I still think those instincts were right. But I can see now how much further we could have taken them with the tools I've learned since. Seven years later, some of what I'd change is technical — the hardware is smaller, the sensors are better, indoor positioning actually works. But most of what I'd change is about the experience itself, starting with the work it takes to earn it: sit with visually impaired users first, learn how they already navigate, and design around that — not around what the hardware can do.