Wearable Guiding System with Traction-Kinesthetic Feedback for the Visually Impaired

Existing electronic travel aids remain limited in providing stable and comprehensive daily guidance support. Inspired by shoulder-guiding in human assistance, this paper develops and evaluates a wearable guiding system based on traction-kinesthetic feedback. The system integrates RGB-D perception, path planning, traction cues, and voice interaction, enabling navigation, obstacle avoidance, and object localization in structured indoor environments. Twelve subjects (8 sighted, 4 blind) completed three comparative experiments and a multi-stage comprehensive experiment. Compared with the standard cane, traction-kinesthetic feedback reduced task completion time (sighted: 23.8-54.5%; blind:30.7-48.1%) and walking distance (sighted: 7.3-55.8%; blind: 16.5-43.6%), while improving walking speed (sighted: 7.6-26.3%; blind: 9.4-25%) and yielding smoother and more stable walking trajectories. Compared with auditory feedback, traction-kinesthetic feedback was associated with more prompt turns, suggesting improved path continuity and movement responsiveness. Questionnaire results indicated high perceived intuitiveness and quietness (91.67% of subjects), suggesting lower auditory/cognitive load. Subjects reported wearing comfort (75% comfortable, 25% moderate), excellent interaction (83.33%), and stable operation (91.67%). Moreover, the multi-stage comprehensive experiment demonstrated the effective integration of traction guidance and voice assistance, indicating practical usability and application potential.