[access-uk] Re: Now this is real inuvation! enjoy.
- From: "Steve Nutt" <steve@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Thu, 19 Jul 2012 22:18:48 +0100
Hi,
Depends on how stylish the shoes are. They'd probably make you look like
R2D2. Most blindie products are pretty ugly, so the shoes probably won't be
an exception <Smile>.
All the best
Steve
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From: access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of
Ibrahim Gucukoglu
Sent: 18 July 2012 05:38
To: access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [access-uk] Now this is real inuvation! enjoy.
Footwear for the Blind: Bluetooth shoes
The Economist
<http://www.economist.com/blogs/babbage/2012/07/footwear-blind>
http://www.economist.com/blogs/babbage/2012/07/footwear-blind
JUL 14 2012, 9:09 by A.A.K. ~ Mumbai
MORE than 285 million people across the globe suffer from visual impairment.
Yet the tools to assist the blind in walking have changed little since the
1920s, when their canes started being painted white to make other
pedestrians more aware of their presence. The gizmos that do exist have
tended to be expensive and clunky, and have not caught on. This may change
if Anirudh Sharma, a 24-year-old computer engineer from Hyderabad, a city in
the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, has his way.
His innovation, dubbed "Le Chal" ("take me along" in Hindi) pairs a
smartphone app with a small actuator sewn inside the sole of one shoe via
Bluetooth. The user tells the phone his desired destination, which is
translated into electronic commands using voice-recognition software. The
app, which can be programmed to run in the background, fetches the local map
of the area. The phone's Global Positioning System (GPS) tracks the person's
location in real-time, telling the actuator to vibrate when it is time to
turn. The side of the shoe where the vibration is felt indicates which way
to go. Mr Sharma opted for a vibrating signal because for the blind, who
rely on their sense of hearing to make sense of the environment, audio
feedback is a distraction.
The system does not require constant internet access. Once downloaded, maps
can be stored locally and combined with GPS data. The app uses Open Street
Maps (OSM), an open-source rival to Google Maps. OSM allows editing, a
helpful feature in updating rapidly changing urban landscapes. A speed-dial
function can rapidly retrieve the most frequently visited routes.
The shoe pod is also equipped with an obstacle-detection mechanism. A sensor
in the tip of the shoe, devised by Mr Sharma's business partner, Krispian
Lawrence, scans the vicinity using sonar, which emits ultrasounds that
bounce off obstacles, indicating their presence. The shoe sets off a
distinct pattern of vibrations to alert the person of any obstruction and
guides him around it.
For now, the footwear, being tested at the L.V. Prasad Eye Institute, one of
India's biggest eye-health facilities, may be most useful in areas with
little or no traffic, such as quiet residential streets or parks. The
challenge, Mr Lawrence says, is to get the algorithm to tell an uncovered
manhole from a flight of stairs, but he expects it to be able to do so in
due course. Dealing with moving obstacles like cars may take longer, though
the pair are working on ways to alert wearers not just about cars' presence,
but also their speed.
To ensure that the final product resembles a regular shoe, fashion
technologists are being consulted to help with ergonomics and design.
Mr Sharma and Mr Lawrence, who started a company called Ducere Technologies
to commercialise their idea, say their high-tech brogues should not cost
more than an ordinary, stylish pair. Many of the world's visually impaired
will like the sound of that.
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