Last week, I went to a form of presentation they held at the orientation
and mobility training division at guide dogs, here in Johannesburg.
The presentation was primarily related to the smart cane, which is a
form of radar device implemented in a white cane handle:
http://smartcane.saksham.org/overview/
Specifically, it's designed to detect obstructions above ground level, in order
to possibly warn you about things the tip of your white cane, etc. wouldn't
have come into contact with, and, it apparently uses a scanning angle of
something like 45 degrees - half of a right angle - with both the source of the
radar, and, the sensor implemented on the handle of the cane.
It also has two different distance modes - if remember correctly varying from
1.2m to 3.8m, with some different output modes as well, since it offers
feedback via vibration, and the different output modes offer different levels
of vibration intensity, and then also offer you a bit more feedback relating to
battery recharging, etc.
You can also change the radar scanning angle between three levels, depending on
your own height.
Not going to go into too much detail, but, I think it is available here in SA
now, and you can probably get contact details from the guys at guide dogs for
the local suppliers.
However, will honestly say I have a couple of issues with the overall design.
Firstly, it's implemented as part of the handle of the white cane they provide,
and, the longest cane they offer is roundabout 10cm shorter than my own
standard cane length - and, since it's built into the cane's handle, while you
can remove the handle from the cane, to either use it on it's own, or to switch
it over to another cane, it means you can't really use the unit just on it's
own, since, for example, you wouldn't be able to fasten it onto your wrist if
you were holding your guide dog's harness handle on the other side too
easily/cleanly.
Secondly, the cane they provide doesn't seem to be very sturdy/rugged - for
example, I have replaced the standard elastic in all my cane's with the
stronger elastic from makro's camping department, but, this cane seems somewhat
loose, if that makes sense.
Along the lines of this, when doing something like changing the scanning angle
of the radar, I am not sure this part of the design would necessarily last too
long if you changed it's angle too often, partly since it needs to click into
place.
Now, this is still a nice gadget, and, would be quite nice, but, they specified
the price as basically being US$100, which, along with the things mentioned
above means it's not something I myself would want to pay for, but, maybe
that's since I already have quite a few other things I play around with, like
the vOICe using both the android-phone implementation, which is free, as well
as the after-sight implementation on the raspberry pi mini-computer.
But, just thought would mention this either way
Jacob Kruger
Blind Biker
Skype: BlindZA
"Resistance is futile, but, acceptance is versatile..."
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