New"Smartcane" has been developed in India To Help Blind People See Again.

The Ultracane provides distance and direction detection to navigate narrow paths whilst avoiding obstacles.

The team at Smartcane took on this challenge by copying the skills of animals such as bats, which emit sonar calls into their surroundings and use the echoes bouncing back from nearby objects to divert around them. The smart technology version instead sends out ultrasound waves via a device attached to a standard white cane; it detects them on their return, and uses vibrations to inform users of any obstacles in their way.

The real benefit comes from the ultrasound scanning a 45 degree span above the knee, providing information a regular cane simply can't provide. As people move the cane from left to right when they walk, vibrations detected on one side mean they should move towards the other.

 

Differing patterns and intensities of vibration tell users the distance of the object obstructing their path, as far as three meters away.

 

Smart and low cost

The Smartcane is not the first of its kind, with similar technologies existing in countries including South Korea, Taiwan and the United Kingdom, where the "Ultracane" has been available since 2011.

"Ultracane provides narrow-beam accurate navigation that allows a skilled user to proceed at normal walking speed. It helps you to 'navigate your way' rather than simply 'avoid hitting things.'" explains Dr Paul Clarke, director of Sound Foresight Technology Limited whose Ultracane device provides information on the direction, as well as distance, of an obstacle when aiding the mobility of its thousands of users worldwide. But a retail price of over $1,000 places it firmly out of reach of many in developing countries.