14 DAY TRIAL // Being blind or otherwise visually impaired is a problem, and unfortunately, there are quite a few people who suffer from such conditions. Fortunately, there are ways to make the problem less crippling, and Mote has one of them.
Canes are a common fixture for people who suffer from seeing disabilities, especially when such people walk around alone.
Even if they own a guide dog, they probably have a cane for the extra insurance that they won't trip or otherwise lose their footing.
The new cane that a designer has recently come up with isn't like the normal ones though, and there are two main reasons for us saying that.
One, the cane has a chip that is connected to an iPhone application. Second, the cane was made with 3D printing technology.
First off, we should get this out of the way: the Voxel Cane (that's the name that the cane’s designer, Sarah Mote, chose) isn't meant for the totally blind.
Instead, it is intended for those with low vision, from issues like macular degeneration. The reason for this is that it uses LED lights.
The LEDs change color when the user is approaching an obstacle. That extra forewarning is always good is something that everyone should be able to agree on. The cane also has a vibrating handle, which indicates upcoming turns.
So how does the cane do all of this, you might ask. That's where the iPhone all comes in, and we do hope that an Android app will be made soon.
The app is what actually performs the GPS search for your destination, and provides directions after the user inputs where they want to go.
The object detection is the one thing that the cane does itself though. Depending on how close it is to an object, the LED lights will change from white to green, then to blue and finally to red if you're about to collide with or trip over something.
Sarah Mote drew on her expertise in regard to blindness, and the differences between partial and total blindness. It might sound odd, but the partially blind have been mostly overlooked compared to the totally blind. Which is to say, travel aides and such don't exist specifically for them. The “standard” walking cane isn't really as helpful for them as it could be, hence Mote's newest invention.
Finally, since the Voxel cane is supposed to be 3D printed, Mote says that the customers will be able to customize the design, at least that of the handle.
