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For blind dogs, everyday life can become an obstacle course of collisions and confusion. Traditional solutions, like rigid "halo" frames and Elizabethan cones, can be bulky and uncomfortable, making it harder for pets to socialize and play.

Hoping to offer a more innovative, comfortable alternative, a team of engineering students at Rice University, known as , designed a wearable vest that helps blind dogs safely navigate their surroundings. Developed for their client, Kunde, a Houston dog who lost his vision to advanced glaucoma, the vest uses haptic feedback powered by a stereoscopic camera system to give real-time spatial awareness without restricting movement or play.

Currently, over 45% of households in the U.S. own dogs, and an overwhelming majority of dog owners consider their pets part of the family. However, caring for a disabled pet, especially one with lost vision, can be difficult, and options for handling disability are limited in some cases. After Kunde lost his eyesight, his owners, Grant Belton and AJ Price, reached out to the Oshman Engineering Design Kitchen (OEDK), Rice's premier engineering design maker space, looking for new solutions to help the dog take his new condition in stride. Adam Vuong, Cristiana De Sousa, Issy Tsai and Santiago Brent signed up for the challenge.

"Existing devices tend to be bulky or uncomfortable, and they rely on the dog bumping into things as tactile feedback, which is not ideal," said Vuong, a junior bioengineering student pursuing a minor in engineering design. "We wanted to create something that would give Kunde the independence to move around and interact with his environment without constant collisions and stress."

The team's solution centers on a lightweight vest fitted with linear resonant actuator motors commonly used in wearables and smartphones that vibrate to alert the dog when obstacles are near. A set of stereoscopic cameras mounted near the dog's head captures real-time depth information, processed by a custom-designed printed circuit board (PCB) and a stereoscopic vision-processing computer module. Vibrations on different parts of the vest vary depending on the proximity and location of obstacles, helping Kunde adjust his path without human intervention.

"Kind of like giving Kunde a second set of eyes, the cameras create a depth map," said Tsai, a freshman electrical engineering major who designed the team's motor control PCB. "The closer an obstacle is, the stronger the vibration on that side of the vest."

The team faced various engineering challenges along the way, from fabricating flexible yet protective housings for electronics to balancing weight distribution to avoid impeding Kunde's natural movements. They also had to waterproof critical components and adapt the design for Houston's hot climate.

"We had to figure out how to embed electronics into a wearable vest that's breathable, soft and rugged enough for a dog who loves to play," said De Sousa, a junior mechanical engineering student. "It was a real exercise in creative problem-solving."

The team's interdisciplinary makeup made the learning experience all the richer for its members: Brent, a junior electrical engineering major, led the stereo imaging and data processing development, while Vuong and De Sousa focused on systems integration and physical design. Tsai worked on the vibration motor hardware, ensuring the components could communicate efficiently without adding unnecessary bulk.

Wearable haptic technology is an active area of research at Rice with potential applications ranging from medical rehabilitation to augmented reality. The team developed a scalable assistive technology model using open-source machine learning and low-cost electronics, highlighting the potential for cross-species applications such as human rehabilitation technology and therapeutic devices.

"This project shows that with the right combination of low-power sensors and haptic feedback, it is possible to provide real-time spatial guidance in a lightweight, unobtrusive way," Brent said.

The device is still undergoing testing with Kunde, but the team is optimistic. They hope their creation will translate into a significant reduction in collisions for Kunde with the final prototype offering a range of up to 8 meters and battery life of about two hours.

Maria Oden and Heather Bisesti were team mentors, and Bilal Ghosn was the team's faculty advisor. The team participated in the 2025 , held April 17 at the Ion.

"The team has made exciting progress, and while there's still more development ahead to fully meet the client's needs, they've already demonstrated the power of having a real-world challenge to drive meaningful design," Bisesti said. "It's motivating for students to see how their work can make a direct difference in someone's ⎯ or some dog's ⎯ life."