Those are good questions. I have been using the standard white
cane since around 1967 and there really are some ways that
electronics could enhance it but I haven't heard of anything yet
that sounds like what we call a killer application.
Here's the problem. The cane is an extension of our hand
and transmits a lot of information mechanically back to us about
what is just ahead and to the sides as you swing it back and
forth.
Our ears really need to be fully tuned in to the
surroundings such as traffic or work going on so that channel is
pretty much occupied all the time and doesn't need any more
inputs competing with a busy world. When there is nobody around
on a peaceful day, you could stand to hear all sorts of prompts
and tones from your cane that could tell you about overhead
branches and things off to the sides, but the world can get very
noisy and confusing very quickly. I am talking about hardly
being able to hear yourself think due to construction or heavy
vehicles or even high wind. At that point, you suddenly loose
that channel because it is effectively jammed completely by
racket. About the only thing that still works is your sense of
touch so devices that transmit vibrations to your hands or even
other parts of your body such as the neck or back or even the
stomach could be used but anything that talks is going to have
to be either right in your ear or able to be hugely loud to do
any good.
I once got to try out a beautifully built device made in
New Zealand called Sonic Glasses. It used ultrasound to detect
obstacles in your path and it worked as advertised and also was
quite expensive due to all that miniaturized electronics, but
what I instantly realized was that if you were wearing them, it
blocked your hearing slightly by having ear pieces in one's
ears, but even more so, the sounds it made could easily cover up
oncoming traffic or some other sound you might normally need to
hear.
It wasn't meant to replace the white cane, but to me, it
was more of a distraction most of the time.
I remember somewhat hesitantly telling this to the
pleasant fellow from New Zealand who was representing the
company and who was nice enough to let me try on the device and
walk around the building for a few minutes. It was fun to play
with, but I didn't see it as a breakthrough.
Find out how the cane works under ear-splitting noise that is
coming at you from many directions.
I almost got hit, one day, when I crossed a street
during a very gusty afternoon. The wind was right in my ears and
I almost didn't hear a slow car coming up from a less-busy
street in to a much busier intersection. It was a white-nuckle
moment for both me and the lady who almost hit me. That's when
some electronic way of registering that a car was moving in to
the path would have been very useful.
Martin
"Mrs. Lynnette Annabel Smith" writes:
> Hello everybody
>
> Gordon, my other half, is shortly going to be starting a refresher course
> in casework with a mobility instructor. We were talking with our social
> worker yesterday, she's arranging this. But the point I'm making is that
> she was speaking about a talking ball-cane.
>
> I've seen people walking around town with these things, and instead of
> tapping the cane on the ground as you used to have to do, from what I've
> seen you just role the ball across the ground in front of you as you walk
> and the cane seems to tell you whether an obstacle or a curb is imminent
> in your walk-path.
>
> Does anybody know anything about these things please? I'm curious as to
> how the cane gets its spoken information to the user; surely not through
> the cane itself or els how would you hear it in heavy traffic, etc.?
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