Technology has been contributing significantly to the development of assistive devices for disabled persons (DPs). Many of these devices aim to assist people who are blind or visually impaired, providing them with friendlier ways to interact with their surroundings (obstacles, objects, and navigation). However, the high cost of these devices makes it difficult for DPs to purchase them. The development of an assistive device kit to be used by the visually impaired in controlled environments (indoor) or urban spaces (outdoor) is presented in this work with a didactic and detailed approach. This low-cost kit (USD 50 per device) consists of a Smart Cane, Smart Cap, and Smart Glove. The methodology addressed aims to support and encourage the reproduction, customization, and manufacture of new assistive devices with low cost and wide applicability. The devices are functional, benefit usability, and, due to the characteristics of the project and the materials used in their construction, do not impact the ergonomics of the visually impaired or disabled person who may use these devices. The devices that integrate the assistive kit can be used independently or combined. In addition to having detection, fall-control, navigation, and real-time tracking functions, they are independent of additional local infrastructure for their use.

The work proposes the development of an integration architecture for highly heterogeneous sensor network ecosystems. The implementation is carried out on a device called the “integration device”. The device functions as a management and abstraction layer, integrated with the communication and data layer of a service-oriented middleware. The integration device controls real-time events through the programming of thread groups, which have the role of managing and abstracting the heterogeneity of data and communication protocols of wireless sensor devices. A part of the integration device implementation is presented, and data transfer rate experiments are conducted to measure its performance.