AH, good idea. Options for clockface, compass, and simple.

Also, good question. And here's what I found out as primary reasons, though not just from my own experience as a completely blind user, but also from the field tests I did with a group of my blind peers:

1. Walking around while holding a cane on one hand and a smartphone on the other is really, really restrictive;

2. Doing what's mentioned in number 1 while holding a smartphone in front of your face or pointing at the direction you want described is really, really tiring;

3. Trying to read a flyer or something outdoors like an event while standing or sitting and awkwardly positioning your arms, back and hands just to hold a piece of paper in one hand, a smartphone in the other, and a cane or a bag in the other hand is really, really ... oops ... wait ... just ran out of hands!;

4. Blind persons holding an expensive smartphone like an iPhone outdoors while walking alone and pointing it at the direction they want described, especially in developing countries like urban cities here in the Philippines, is a ticket to getting mugged, or worse, killed. For some background info, many of my blind friends here and I are victims of similar senseless violence, and this is what caused our blindness;

5. SeeingAI doesn't sense depth and doesn't estimate distance;

6. SeeingAI doesn't work without Internet connectivity — On-device processing is crucial for blind users in developing countries, especially in rural areas; and

7. Unlike proprietary devices with closed-source systems — This is an open source, do-it-yourself device. This promotes low-cost, low scale production, especially through 3D printing, community-based support for localization, continuous development and suitable customizations to best fit a blind user's unique use case, and also promotes equipping blind persons with knwledge and experience in technical areas so as not to be left behind, especially with our transition to the Fourth Industrial Revolution, expedited by CoViD-19 ...

Yeah, I know. That's the geek in me talking. But our data indicates these things. That's why we don't see too many blind persons here and in many other SE Asian countries walking around alone holding their smartphones in front of their faces or pointing it at the directions they want described, while holding a cane in the other, and carrying a bag. :)