iDar

Abstract

With over three hundred million visually disabled people in the world, many innovators have attempted to reinvent sight. With guide dogs and canes for mobility, tactile bumps for reading and navigating, and even more modern devices that implement radar or light to recreate vision. However, the signature white cane is still the most often used tool by the blind which has been popularized for almost over a hundred years. Although, many renditions of the cane have also been created in attempts to achieve greater independence for the visually disabled. In spite of this, most innovations intended to improve the original white cane have only been shown to limit the blind even more. Take for example the “EyeCane”, a novel take on the original white cane, the “EyeCane” uses GPS, obstacle detection, and obstacle detection to revolutionize the cane. The only downside to this design is the fact that the cane is expensive, and the extra added weight to the cane only deters the visually disabled from easily transitioning to their newly designed cane. On the other hand, another version of the cane—coined the “Laser Cane”—applies a more simple approach to detection and uses light from lasers to gauge the distance of objects from the user. By using light, the measurements between the cane and the obstacles are not only fast, but they are fitting for small distances. Then again, the “Laser Cane” succumbed to the same issues as the “EyeCane” regarding the cost and the additional weight added by the electronics. Alongside this, the cane would also fail to work in poor weather conditions as any light that is used to reflect off of objects would simply be obstructed by any form of rain, snow, dust, or even fog. Taking yet another similar approach to the latter canes, the “Ultracane”—advertised to be a “safer way to travel”—uses the same concept as the prior canes. Basically, the cane provides a signal, in this case, a vibration in the handle, from a detection system that employs two ultrasonic sensors that scan for obstacles above the waist of the user to find obstacles that are not detectable through tactile feedback of the initial white cane. Yet, another downside still remains to be the cost of the cane, starting at around six hundred and twenty-five dollars, compared to the cost of a white cane reaching most around fifty dollars. Another downside of this is the fact that ultrasonic sensors can be interfered with, with the same frequency, the sensors are rendered useless and cause the user to be in jeopardy of danger. Even a startup created by a person who is visually impaired, WeWalk, continues the pattern of featuring comprehensive technology to the white cane that many visually impaired people find more effective on its own.

Simply, overcomplicating the cane, it interrupts and convolutes the intentionally simple design of the white cane. The original is easy to use with its lightweight materials and easy to carry with many canes being able to fold into a compact structure intended to be functional for the users. So now the question is, why reinvent the wheel? With so many versions of an already successful design, some even awarded medals for their efforts, they’ve made a solution to a disability more difficult to access with the common recurring issue of cost and method of detection. All of the previously mentioned designs require either an outer source of detection, such as GPS, or light and sound detections that could be interfered with by external unpredictable factors which render many of their systems useless. As a result, this causes a danger to many visually impaired consumers and deters many others from reaching out to experiment with their “revolutionary” and “cutting-edge” technology. As for the requirements for the development of the white walking cane:

1. a device must be able to detect objects
2. be silent and inconspicuous when in use
3. simple to use and must not require a routine to set the device
4. should have a wide range of detection
5. be tactile for the user
6. should not interfere with other senses if it is auditory In spite of this, there have been successful devices catered to the blind that do not act as an expensive and unnecessary add-on to the original white cane. Take for instance Envision, a company revolving around eyewear that assists the blind in reading. Shaped similarly to a failed predecessor—the Google Glass—Envision glasses employ a camera and AI software to read typed words and write to a visually impaired person. The design itself differs from the rest of the designs as it fails to obstruct the design of the white cane, instead, it acts as an additional support device for the blind; the glasses themselves continue to allow for the visually impaired to assume independence, a goal for many visually impaired. Then again, the cost continues to be a deterringfactor of the product as the base model of the Envision Glasses costs around two thousand five hundred dollars. So in conclusion, to truly create a modern revolutionary innovation for the blind, these criteria have to be met:
7. a device that does not interfere with a majority of previously trained accessories
8. a budget-friendly product that is intended to be accessible for all who could afford a cane
9. a detection system that is equipped to overcome unpredictable obstacles and situations

Data

• Eyesight

• Lidar Tests

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