[infoshare] Re: Fwd: Who Would Think!
- From: Gussie C <gus.chalkias@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: "infoshare@xxxxxxxxxxxxx" <infoshare@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 17 Jul 2012 21:45:07 -0400
I want
Sent from my iPhone
On Jul 17, 2012, at 9:33 PM, Ellen Rubin <ellenr5@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>> F Y I!! What will they think of next???
>
>
> Ellen
>
>> Subject: [SDT-BLND] Footwear for the blind: Bluetooth shoes
>> 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 285m 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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