Current Innovations: Smart Walking Stick for Visually Impaired People by

Source Details

ckoster2_1 — 2024-02-02 22:32:32 UTC

Researchers at the University of Colorado at Boulder

Author: Conn Hastings PhD from the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland

Date Published

ckoster2_1 — 2024-02-02 22:36:24 UTC

January 30th, 2023

Summary of the current Innovation

ckoster2_1 — 2024-02-02 22:55:37 UTC

This walking stick for the visually impaired uses technology in the form of cameras to visualize the environment. AI has been incorporated which is able to identify objects and provides verbal and haptic responses. These prompts help the visually impaired person in selecting items off a shelf or guiding them through a restaurant, to find an empty table. This device uses technological advancements in self driving cars. (Hastings, 2023)

Link and Embedded Video and Photos

ckoster2_1 — 2024-02-02 22:59:56 UTC

Pros

ckoster2_1 — 2024-02-02 23:06:13 UTC

Allows visually impaired to lead a more independent life
Can help improve mental heath of visually impaired persons
Allows healthcare and social care resources to be used elsewhere
Can potentially improve the lives to thousands of visually impaired persons

Cons

ckoster2_1 — 2024-02-02 23:10:44 UTC

Certain populations may have trouble grasping how to properly use this technologically advanced walking stick
AI is still growing and is not full-proof
Cost might be a potential deterrent for those without the resources.

Opinion and Rationale

ckoster2_1 — 2024-02-02 23:19:32 UTC

In my opinion, this particular walking stick has the potential to improve the lives of numerous persons either blind or have low vision impairment. For decades, the walking stick has been accepted as a standard for visually impaired people. It is great to see someone think outside of the box and improve a needed device. I do believe at this time, the technology would need to be refined and improved for general population use. With trial and error, this device will be ready for the general population. In the future, this device is something I would recommend to my mother, who has impaired vision due to Macular Degeneration

Using Strengths

ckoster2_1 — 2024-02-03 03:12:22 UTC

My strengths are:

Developer- With a strength as developer, this would be useful to see the potential in other team members while cultivating the capacity in other team members.

Harmony- This would be a good strength to encourage working together and help prevent conflict.

Positivity- Would be a nice strength to add to a team. Despite potential setbacks and problems, having a sense of positivity would help unite the team.

Arranger- An arranger is useful in putting all the different pieces of the project together. This would help things progress smoothly.

Context- Adding context to a team would help to look at the past and tie together information and data.

Using Strengths

ckoster2_1 — 2024-02-03 03:45:22 UTC

Valuable team member strengths:

Amelia/Adaptability- With the combination of developer and adaptability would help promote clear development steps for the project.

Chelsea/Command- This strength would provide leadership, decision making, and guidance to the team.

Matthew/Maximizer- A maximizer loves perfection. This will pair well with positivity. Striving for perfection is needed in such a project as this one, but can lead to frustration and potentially lose site of goals. Staying positive will bolster Matthew's perfection

Sheila/Strategic- Having a good strategy will help pave a clear path to success for the project. The strength of arranger compliments a person with strategy and find different alternatives to keep moving forward.

Faith/Futuristic- A combination of context with futuristic provides the best possible plan to look to the past and at the same time looking forward to the potentials.

References

ckoster2_1 — 2024-02-03 18:49:15 UTC

Hastings, C. (2023, January 30). Smart walking stick for visually impaired people. Medgadget. https://www.medgadget.com/2023/01/smart-walking-stick-for-visually-impaired-people.html

Agrawal, S., West, M.E., & Hayes, B. (2022). A Novel Perceptive Robotic Cane with Haptic Navigation for Enabling Vision-Independent Participation in the Social Dynamics of Seat Choice {IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems} (IROS), Kyoto, Japan, 2022, pp. 9156-9163. https://doi: 10.1109/IROS47612.2022.9981219.