You’ll find some research on the frequency of injury—not as much as one would hope, but the papers are out there.

(I’m also working on navigation, but currently focused on a narrow slice of that.)

A few things to consider as you work on navigation:

1. Custom hardware can be a hard sell to customers, and also a tough sell if you want to raise money from investors.
2. There are numerous problems trying to building sensors or other gadgets into canes. As a rule, don’t.
3. Try to narrow down the group you’re addressing. In my surveys and one-on-one talks, some people considered obstacle detection a high priority, and others weren’t interested.

If you don’t already have a copy of a classic book on O&M, I’d suggest getting one and reading it through at least once.

You might also contact a local O&M instructor, who will have experience working with a number of people of different ages, different skill levels with the white cane, etc.

If you’re not already signed up for ResearchGate, that’s a good place to find papers to download for free that may otherwise be tricky to find.

I just use the basic I just go out and do it old fashioned plus bus tracker and stuff ask for direction I have good kinesthetics and spacial awareness.

Also no I usually don’t get hurt unless I am massively distracted but at that point I am distracted and anything could happen.

Protection for the upper body has probably been one of the few things were there has not been a good solution. There have been white canes with ultrasonic sensors added (Ultracane https://www.ultracane.com/ ) and there are also wearable ultrasonic sensors (Buzzclip https://imerciv.com/ ).

I've found that neither one does that well, mostly because many hazards at the upper level are not reliably picked up by those sensors due to their small sizes (branches, signs projecting from walls/poles). The only one that I have found that is reliable is also probably the most expensive option. You can use Aira, which is an agent that you call, and can use the camera on your phone to see the surroundings. However, you'd either have to know roughly where the hazard is, or be on the call for a while (and pay for it).

The client can also do upper protective technique with their hand not holding the cane, but I've found most people can't hold their arms up that long for any significant length of time.

I use my cane and apps like "Nearby Explorer", Google Maps, and "Transit". I never rely on them fully though as that's dangerous and often somewhat inaccurate, either because of out of date maps, or GPS inaccuracy. I also make sure to not let them distract me from my surroundings, such as when crossing streets or walking on a busy sidewalk.
Running into overhead objects is relatively common, but it's almost always just small branches. Bigger things usually get picked up by my echo location if I'm paying attention, but after that it's up to me to memorize where they are for the next time. Tree trimming has gone by the wayside thanks to Covid, so this is worse than usual right now.

I use Uber or a family member. Transit doesn't exist where I live so my cane skills rarely come into play.

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