A system and method for assisting a visually impaireduser including an imaging device, a processing unit for receiving imagesfrom the imaging device and converting the images into signals for use byone or more controllers, and one or more vibro-tactile devices, whereinthe one or more controllers activates one or more of the vibro-tactiledevices in response to said signals received from the processing unit. Thesystem preferably includes a lanyard means on which the one or morevibro-tactile devices are mounted, the lanyard means adapted to be wornaround the neck of the user such that a first vibro-tactile device isarranged on the right side of the users neck, a second vibro- tactile deviceon a left side of the users neck, and a third vibro-tactile device at theback portion of the users neck. The vibro-tactile devices are activateddepending on a determined position in front of the user of an object and thedistance from the user to the object.
