With all due respect, the cane is currently the all around best tool for everyday travel. It's durable, lightweight, and provides excellent feedback to the user. I can travel anywhere with mine. I do not see these shoes replacing a cane, because of their complexity. One would have to constantly worry about keeping the devices adequately charged, for one. Also, the cost could be prohibitive, whereas you can get a cane for less than forty dollars. Also, I doubt that the shoes will be advanced enough to provide feedback on texture changes, which are important cues when travelling. Perhaps within a few years, this technology will prove itself beneficial, but for the time being, the cane, combined with gps technology is the best method for travel.
Sent from my iPhone On Jul 20, 2012, at 2:22 PM, "Fred Olver" <[email protected]> wrote: > You are certainly entitled to your own opinion, Howeverthe a cane is at best > an archaec method of travel. I, for one would appreciate any improvement to > my getting around. Look at the prices we pay for technology just to make use > of a computer, or used too, 900 or $1,000 for talking software, sometimes > many tiimes the amount for the computer itself. How many of you are old > enough to remember the Lazar cane, $1,500 a piece, and to make one completely > functional you just about needed two of them in case one failed, glasses that > emited tones, $300, a hand-held scanner $150, so maybe it will work and maybe > not, but basicly having an extention of your hand to help you get around > seems rather fatalistic to me. > > Fred Olver > > ----- Original Message ----- From: "Rob Harris" <[email protected]> > To: <[email protected]> > Sent: Friday, July 20, 2012 1:11 PM > Subject: Re: Shoes, anyone? > > > I know these final year projects of B.sc students sound impressive, but this > is another classic sightling trying to work out something from his > perspective of blind, rather than asking the blind end user. Clive sinclair > tried this method, I ahve a good idea, you will buy it.... and they > didn't. To be fair, he tried again with a computer, and they did buy that, > and the snapon keyboard to work it. > > I know I sound cynical, But the description is trying to make out he's > going from 1920s technology to spaceage technology at a stroke; he isn't, > we got so many gps and map and navigation systems here now, for the sake of > the iPhone to run them. So the shoe gismo is an interesting tangent, but > Heck!.... he's not invading rocket science territory with it for sure. > ----- Original Message ----- From: "Fred Olver" <[email protected]> > To: <[email protected]> > Sent: Friday, July 20, 2012 4:25 PM > Subject: Shoes, anyone? > > > Footwear for the blind > > Bluetooth shoes > > Jul 14th 2012 > > 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. > > http://www.economist.com/blogs/babbage/2012/07/footwear-blind?fsrc=scn/tw/te > /bl/bluetoothshoes#_methods=onPlusOne%2C_ready%2C_close%2C_open > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the "VIPhone" Google > Group. > To search the VIPhone public archive, visit > http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > [email protected]. > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/viphone?hl=en. > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the "VIPhone" Google > Group. > To search the VIPhone public archive, visit > http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > [email protected]. > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/viphone?hl=en. > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the "VIPhone" Google > Group. > To search the VIPhone public archive, visit > http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > [email protected]. > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/viphone?hl=en. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the "VIPhone" Google Group. 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