Hi Darren. There are already products that use sonar technology, the RNIB glasses and the Ultra cane to name but a couple. These shoes would really augment GPS as a mobility aid and if they did this alone I’d be a willing customer. All the best, Ibrahim. From: Darren Brewer Sent: Wednesday, July 18, 2012 3:37 PM To: access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: [access-uk] Re: Now this is real inuvation! enjoy. Yes I'm all in favour of aids that are not obvious and don't draw attention to our disability. Something like that would be of immense help. I still have concerns how the problem of random obsticles both near the ground and overhanging would be solved though. Darren. ----- Original Message ----- From: Ibrahim Gucukoglu To: access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Sent: Wednesday, July 18, 2012 2:22 PM Subject: [access-uk] Re: Now this is real inuvation! enjoy. Hi Darren. For my part, I’d be delighted with just the ability to be sure in which direction I needed to travel. If these shoes could remember a route and had a GPS function, a nudge in either right or left foot with perhaps pads at heel and toes would be a great orientation aid. Needless to say, a nudge in your left shoe with a vibration in the heel would indicate to the left and behind etc. Would do away with the need for mobile compasses which aren’t always accurate anyway, not to mention just plane confusing at times. All the best, Ibrahim. From: Darren Brewer Sent: Wednesday, July 18, 2012 1:43 PM To: access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: [access-uk] Re: Now this is real inuvation! enjoy. Hi Ibrahim lol. Oh dear I wonder how many more puns can we get out of this subject. Seriously though I wish him all the best with his project. It's certainly innovative and the more people who think of solutions to our navigation problems the better. I can see that the turn by turn navigation variant he is developing would be relatively straightforward to implement. However I cannot understand how a sonar/ultrasonic technology will be able to discriminate between open drain covers or steps, or even for that matter detect them in the first place. I imagine The computation required would be quite intensive. I know from research I did after leaving university that determining depth or distance within a stereo image is very difficult to determine with accuracy and I just can't see how it would be done with sound. It will be interesting to follow his progress and see if anything becomes commercially available. Cheers Darren. ----- Original Message ----- From: Ibrahim Gucukoglu To: access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Sent: Wednesday, July 18, 2012 1:26 PM Subject: [access-uk] Re: Now this is real inuvation! enjoy. Hi Darren. Well, whether it is Shoe or not, the economist article checks out and it would make a change from the seemingly endless line of braille displays, mobile phones and other been there done that stuff that’s coming out seemingly every year. For someone to develop something that is of practical use not to mention novel would be marvellous if he puts his soul in to the effort. All the best, Ibrahim. From: Darren Brewer Sent: Wednesday, July 18, 2012 10:33 AM To: access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: [access-uk] Re: Now this is real inuvation! enjoy. Sounds too good to be shoe Darren. ----- Original Message ----- From: Ibrahim Gucukoglu To: access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Sent: Wednesday, July 18, 2012 5:38 AM 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 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. ____________________________________