Stanford researchers build self-navigating smart cane for the visually impaired

[Still Waters]

The standard white cane is an essential aid for getting out and about for many visually impaired people, but to date, it hasn't offered much in the way of affordable modern updates – which is something that a group of researchers wants to change.

Borrowing technology designed for autonomous vehicles, the team has come up with a self-navigating smart cane that can identify obstacles in the surrounding environment, and nudge the user safely away from them.

In tests, the smart, augmented cane increased walking speed for visually impaired volunteers by 18 percent. For the 250 million people with sight difficulties worldwide, this assistive technology could lead to a serious increase in their quality of life.

https://www.sciencealert.com/this-400-cane-uses-autonomous-vehicle-tech-to-help-guide-the-visually-impaired

https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/scirobotics.abg6594

[+joc]

That's a great story.