We’ve seen smart canes that help blind people avoid bumping into people and tripping on obstacles, but the XploR canes developed by students at Birmingham City University in the UK has some more smarts near the sleeves (forgive the pun). Specifically, the cane has smartphone electronics, including a camera, built-in. The device looks ahead and uses computer recognition algorithms to identify people the user personally knows. A memory card holds photos of family members and friends, and the cane automatically compares people it sees against those files.
The device also has GPS capability, so combining it with a wireless Bluetooth headset can provide navigational guidance just about anywhere.
The student team is already showing off the XploR device to various relevant organizations around Europe, hoping the technology will be rapidly adopted by blind people
Source: Birmingham City University…