Taken from Indian Express:
For nearly 60 visually-impaired college students in Mumbai, detecting obstacles in front of them will no longer require physical contact. ‘Smartcanes’ developed by a team from Indian Institute of Technology Delhi (IIT-D) team will enable the students to detect open windows, electric poles, hanging branches
and protruding AC units, open car door at a distance of three metres using ultrasonic ranging sensors attached to their regular canes.
The Xavier’s Resource Centre for the Visually Challenged (XRCVC), in association with National Institute for the Visually Handicapped, Saksham Trust and IIT Delhi, will be distributing the canes to the students under the central government’s Assistance to Disabled Persons Scheme (ADIP) scheme on Tuesday.
The smartcane, which costs Rs 3,000 in the market, will be provided free of charge to the students.
The ‘smartcane’ device vibrates with three different frequencies when the obstacle is three, two and one metre away. There is also a special alarm that will go off for fast-approaching obstacles such as a reversing car. The device is a product of field trials conducted with the help of 150 blind people
at six sites in the country, including students from XRCVC.
“The device is designed to detect obstacles from knee to head height up to three metres away, helping them avoid injuries otherwise sustained due to these obstacles. Our product is portable, small enough to fit purses and pockets and can be charged through its USB port.” said Rohan Paul, co-founder and postdoctoral fellow, assistive technologies group, IIT-D, who had worked on this project as an undergraduate student back in 2005.
With an adjustable knob to detect low-occurring obstacles such as potholes, the detachable device can be used on almost all canes available in the market. “We have even roped in ‘Mumbai cane’ manufacturers to ensure our device is compatible with these canes,” said
Piyush Shanana of IIT-D. According to the researchers, Mumbai canes are preferred by the visually impaired in the city and are heavier than regular canes.
“The smartcane helps me track people on the busy street without having to touch them with my cane and has helped reduce my injuries. Now, people are surprised when I ‘see’ them coming a distance away and ask me how I do it. This cane has helped me walk faster and avoid accidents and
even hurting people unintentionally,” said Deepak Jaiswal, a first year BA student at St Xavier’s.
Another user, Rajesh Mehta, says the cane helps him avoid falling between compartments while trying to enter the one for the differently abled in local trains.
The college students will also receive PlexTalk Vachak, which enables variable speed recording, enabling access to written content both in English and Hindi.
“While there is a lot of content available in audio format for English speaking audiences, there has been no help for those who cannot speak English. Today, with the Vachak it is possible to read Hindi softcopy books as comfortably as an English e-book, said Dr Sam Taraporevala, director, XRCVC.
Source: Indian Express.
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