>Forward from the gui-talk list ... > > Good vibrations: Shoe helps blind to walk > > By SUSAN McMAHON, Sun Staff > > LOWELL The shoes look innocuous enough, black with > wires and gadgets glued and Velcroed across the faces. > > But put them on, and walk around, and suddenly the > walls of the shoes begin to shake. Get a little closer > to that couch, and they shake faster. Move around, and > the vibrations move to different parts of the shoe. > > Designed by recent UMass Lowell graduate Richard Namay > Castle as a way to assist blind people, the shoes work > by transferring objects from a visual plane to a > vibrating one. > > "There's a lot of things you can get from these > sensors," said Castle, who lives in Dracut. "You can > tell what's left of you, what's right, what's up, > what's in front." > > If the person wearing the shoes, called sensory > systems for the blind, walks towards a wall, both the > top and front vibrators start to shake, indicating a > tall object is in his path. If he heads towards a > couch, only the front vibrators work, meaning a > shorter object lies ahead. > > The infrared sensors can detect things from a meter > away. Vibrating motors begin to shake once they detect > an object, then move faster as the wearer moves > closer. > > The model is only a prototype, but Castle hopes to > find a possible buyer and then develop more > sophisticated shoes. For a blind person, the new and > improved shoes could provide a way to get around > without a walking stick or seeing-eye dog. > > "It will have a wider application the more > sophisticated he could make the sensing equipment," > said Dana Bernor, an adaptive equipment instructor at > the Lowell Association for the Blind employee who > tried out the shoes. "I could see them as something > useful for somebody who needs to use a cane indoors." > > Then, rather than using a cane around the house, a > blind person could rely on the shoes to tell him where > a doorway or the coffee table is located. > > Castle came up with the idea last year as part of a > senior capstone project for his electrical engineering > major. All students in the program must develop a new > device that would help the handicapped. > > Usually, students do the same project over and over > again. Castle wanted to do something different. > > He scoured the Internet, looking for the kinds of > technology used to assist quadriplegics, trying to > come up with an idea for something new. > > While researching devices for quadriplegics, he came > across a system that used sensors in the walls of a > house to set off an alert when a wheelchair got too > close. > > Why not adapt that system for blind people, he > thought. > > Better yet, he should take the devices off walls and > put them on shoes. > > "Why couldn't I put it on them and have them walk > around with the sensors?" he said. > > That began more months of research, of finding the > parts, of designing the system, of readjusting and > fine-tuning the shoes. > > At first, he put the vibrating motors one right after > the other, but the wearer couldn't distinguish which > one indicated which direction, so he moved them > further apart. > > He also thought of running a wire to the wearer's > belt, where the motors would be located, but that > turned out to be too impractical to wear. > > Finally, after all the modifications were finished, a > prototype was created. Castle stuck it on his hand his > feet were a bit too big for the shoes and tried it out > all over the house. > > Then, throwing caution to the wind, he forced his foot > inside and tried it that way, too. > > "I had a good time in them," he said. "I was walking > all around the house. It was awesome." > > There are, of course, improvements that could be made. > If the prototype moves to the final stages, Castle > hopes to create a more waterproof shoe by embedding > much of the circuitry in the sole of the shoe, and > create some kind of sensor that would detect when the > wearer is walking down stairs. > > Currently, drops in elevation are not registered on > the shoes. > > But, overall, much of the world can be translated into > vibrations as the wearer walks around. > > "When you get used to it, you can feel what's around > you. You can tell when you're closer to something or > farther away," Castle said. > > The cost of creating the shoes was a bit more than > $200. The shoes were the most expensive item: $20. > > The design and creation of the shoes was so > inexpensive and so easy, that Castle was surprised he > was the first to come up with the idea. Now, he holds > a provisional patent on the "smart shoes." > > "It's so simple. I can't believe someone hasn't > thought of it before," he said. > > > >mailto:>WEBSITE: http://users.tpg.com.au/racheldk > >Regards Steve >mailto:
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