Don't make a smart cane. But I will ask why you're doing it so that we can review your reasoning.

Your "Link to Google Forms" leads to a survey. Members of r/Blind get many requests to fill out surveys, and they've written about being annoyed by this.
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Please do a quick review of the book about surveys in the following link, then refashion your survey. It's unclear how many questions there are, or how long you expect the survey to take. (Hint: it is never "5 to 10 minutes.")
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I'm a sighted engineer with product experience in 2D and 3D vision, and some patents, so I can give you a few pointers.


Half the questions are irrelevant. Every question takes time, so you need to present as few questions as possible. I couldn't tell how many questions there would be in total. Ouch. It shouldn't be a surprise.

The categories for degrees of blindness are odd and (to my knowledge) not generally accepted. Low vision, legal blindness with some usable vision, and total blindness are three categories that capture what you need. Even within low vision and legal blindness the spectrum of experience is so broad as to be difficult to describe, and certainly can't be covered in a short survey.

Presenting the audio/haptic question doesn't make much sense at this point. There are a gazillion ways either could be implemented. From a quick search of academic research you'll find many ways in which audio and haptics have been implemented in systems going back to the late 1960s or earlier. Better to present a few specific options making references to apps or devices people are likely to have used.


There's already some data on user preferences for navigational feedback. Google and you can find it.

Remove this question: "The technology adoption lifecycle ..." This defocuses your survey, and is something you should determine based on responses rather than ask someone to determine. Incidentally, you should present fewer personal questions. Do you really think someone taking a survey wants the option to be classified among the group of "Laggards?"


(Crossing the Chasm is a good book, but doesn't need to be quoted at the survey taker.)

Keep all questions on one page. If you have to use multiple pages for some reason, tell someone how many pages there are. I couldn't tell.


A few more comments.

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* Consider how a cane works. (Hint: vibration) What's its purpose? Could something you add to the cane interfere with that purpose in any way. (Almost certainly yes.) Imagine it this way: if you were a professional baseball player, cricket player, or billiards player, would you want some gob of tech to be stuck on your bat or cue? (As a billiards player, I can say absolutely not.)
* Count how many white cane users asked you to make this smart cane with the features you have planned. Count them twice. Then consider what percentage of cane users in your city or country they may represent. And then the percentage of legally blind and/or low vision users will want or need a smart cane. A few face-to-face discussions with members of your local blind community would help.
* Look into the long and unpleasant history of smart canes. The inventor of one of the most well-known smart canes regretted having invented it.. People didn't want it. You'll find complaints about smart canes online. I've also heard the same from numerous blind people, sometimes without prompting.
* Your sensor choice isn't bad, but consider where you would go from there.


Good luck!