Summary
Untethered, a smart-goggle project by engineering student Pasupuleti Ruthvik, uses ultrasonic sensing and haptic alerts to warn visually impaired swimmers as they approach a pool wall. The Chittoor student’s project has advanced to the Top 20 of Samsung Solve for Tomorrow 2026.
Engineering student Pasupuleti Ruthvik from Chittoor, Andhra Pradesh, has advanced to the Top 20 of Samsung Solve for Tomorrow 2026 with Untethered, a smart-goggle project intended to help visually impaired swimmers detect when they are nearing a pool wall. Samsung describes the system as using ultrasonic sensing to measure distance and haptic feedback to give the swimmer a physical alert.
How Untethered is intended to work
Ultrasonic ranging generally estimates distance from the time taken for a sound pulse to reflect from an object and return. In Untethered, the measured distance is intended to trigger a tactile cue as the swimmer approaches the wall. The alert is meant to provide information without requiring the swimmer to watch for a visual marker or depend constantly on another person.
Samsung’s account does not detail the goggles’ sensor arrangement or the specific form of the haptic signal. It presents the project as a developing innovation, rather than a commercially available product.
From engineering idea to user needs
Ruthvik says an accident in which a friend suffered a concussion prompted him to think about using technology to help prevent injuries and make activities more accessible. His interest in swimming also shaped the project.
At Samsung Solve for Tomorrow’s Bootcamp, Ruthvik’s focus shifted from whether the technology could be built to whether visually impaired swimmers would find it useful and comfortable. He says mentoring helped him consider feasibility, user experience and the needs of people who might use the goggles.
The project’s place among the competition’s Top 20 teams marks progress in that development process. Ruthvik’s stated ambition is to take Untethered beyond a lab-only prototype and develop it as an affordable, scalable assistive product. Samsung’s account reports no pool-trial results or measured safety outcomes, so the project is best understood as a work in development, with its practical performance still to be demonstrated.