A Wearable Electronic Swim Coach for Blind Athletes

Abstract

This project aims to enable a visually impaired swimmer to train with more independence than currently allowed by other solutions. The final device prototype consists of a smartphone application that leverages various hardware components within a smartphone, such as the video camera and the gyroscope. These hardware components are used to track the visually impaired swimmer in a reliable manner and notify the swimmer if they have deviated to a side or if they are approaching the end of their lane. The final prototype uses machine vision to track a swimmer’s position relative to the black “T” shaped line on the bottom of a standard competitive swimming pool. A device prototype is created and tested to demonstrate the proof of concept for the device design and algorithm. The in-water device testing demonstrates the success of the prototype in real-world scenarios and highlights opportunities for further device improvements.