Safe navigation for the visually impaired individuals remains a critical challenge, especially concerning head-level obstacles, which traditional mobility aids often fail to detect. We introduce GuideTouch, a compact, affordable, standalone wearable device designed for autonomous obstacle avoidance. The system integrates two vertically aligned Time-of-Flight (ToF) sensors, enabling three-dimensional environmental perception, and four vibrotactile actuators that provide directional haptic feedback. Proximity and direction information is communicated via an intuitive 4-point vibrotactile feedback system located across the user's shoulders and upper chest. For real-world robustness, the device includes a unique centrifugal self-cleaning optical cover mechanism and a sound alarm system for location if the device is dropped. We evaluated the haptic perception accuracy across 22 participants (17 male and 5 female, aged 21-48, mean 25.7, sd 6.1). Statistical analysis confirmed a significant difference between the perception accuracy of different patterns. The system demonstrated high recognition accuracy, achieving an average of 92.9% for single and double motor (primary directional) patterns. Furthermore, preliminary experiments with 14 visually impaired users validated this interface, showing a recognition accuracy of 93.75% for primary directional cues. The results demonstrate that GuideTouch enables intuitive spatial perception and could significantly improve the safety, confidence, and autonomy of users with visual impairments during independent navigation.

翻译：安全导航对视障人士而言仍是一项关键挑战，尤其是头部高度的障碍物，传统的行动辅助工具往往无法检测到。我们介绍了GuideTouch，一款紧凑、经济、独立的可穿戴设备，专为自主避障而设计。该系统集成了两个垂直排列的飞行时间传感器，实现三维环境感知，以及四个振动触觉执行器，提供定向触觉反馈。接近度和方向信息通过位于用户肩部和上胸部的直观四点振动触觉反馈系统进行传递。为增强实际环境中的鲁棒性，该设备包含独特的离心自清洁光学盖机制，以及设备掉落时的声音报警定位系统。我们在22名参与者中评估了触觉感知准确性。统计分析证实了不同模式间感知准确性存在显著差异。该系统表现出高识别准确率，单电机和双电机模式的平均准确率达到92.9%。此外，对14名视障用户的初步实验验证了该界面的有效性，主要方向线索的识别准确率为93.75%。结果表明，GuideTouch能够实现直观的空间感知，并可能显著提升视障用户在独立导航时的安全性、信心和自主性。