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Artificial intelligence and smart technology may make it simpler for visually impaired people to move around in their everyday lives. Engineers at the University of Colorado-Boulder are working on a "smart" walking stick that will help the blind with daily tasks such as finding a seat and grocery shopping.
According to the study's authors, the gadget blends "assistive technology with Silicon Valley." They presented their findings at the 2022 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems in Kyoto, Japan.
"I truly like grocery shopping and spend a large amount of time at the market," research co-author Shivendra Agrawal, a PhD student in the computer science department, said in a university announcement. "However, many people are unable to do so, and it can be quite constraining. We believe this is a solvable issue."
The walking stick looks to be a standard cane that you can buy online. If you look attentively, you'll see a lot of advances made possible by computer and camera technologies. The walking stick actively scans the surrounding area using a camera and computer, then uses vibrations in the handle to guide users to their target location. The cane also contains a voice assistant that can offer commands such as "move a little to your right."
The smart cane might help millions of people gain independence.
"Computer vision and artificial intelligence are developing, and people are utilising them to create self-driving cars and other comparable technologies," Agrawal added. "However, these technologies have the potential to improve many people's quality of life."
The authors of the study posed an age-old question: where do I sit?
An earlier study found that even basic choices impose a lot of burden on a blind or visually impaired person. The study's authors changed their facility into a temporary café to see if the smart walking stick may make the answer to this sitting dilemma easier. This necessitated the installation of multiple chairs, clients, and a few obstacles such as signs that are commonly found in cafés.
Each participant received a backpack containing a laptop and a fancy walking stick. They spun the stick many times to look about the room, with a camera positioned near the handle. Like a self-driving automobile, the laptop built algorithms based on the room's features and selected the best path to the best seat. Participants located the "right chair" in 10 of 12 trials of varying difficulty levels.
While the authors of the study claim that their electronic cane is intended for blind and visually impaired persons, the experiment was carried out on able-bodied subjects who were blindfolded.
Another path the study's authors are taking is to broaden the kind of scenarios in which people could use a cane. In an unpublished research, Agrawal and his co-authors had participants use a cane to browse grocery shops for a certain item. The structure was converted into a makeshift grocery store, with shelves packed with various types of cereal. The writers created a database of product pictures in the programme, such as boxes of Honey Nut Cheerios or Apple Jacks. The walking stick searches the shelves for the exact item the user was looking for.
Although the technology appears to be exciting, it will not be available to the general public for some time. The study's authors aim to make certain changes, such as making it more streamlined and compact.
