Researchers working on "virtual canes" for the blind
By Marc Perton 
posted December 15th 2004 8:11AM
posted December 15th 2004 8:11AM
Researchers at the University of California at Santa Cruz are developing what they call a "virtual white cane," to aid the visually impaired in situations where an actual cane might not be practical. Combining a laser pointer, digital camera and a specialized processor, the cane would analyze surfaces and provide auditory feedback on obstacles and surfaces such as stairs and curbs. The UC researchers are working with working with the Smith-Kettlewell Eye Research Institute, a San Francisco nonprofit.
Sounds really cool, but i think some kind of vibration code or rhythm to warn of various obstacles would be more pratical then some voice saying "WATCH OUT FOR THE STAIRS!" :D
omg, did anyone ever see that mr show episode with "the house of the future". The skit looked like a wierd looking old made for class-room documentary thingy and bob and david talked really funny and said things like "enables our non-sighted loved ones to enjoy the freedoms of independence without the mess of blind caused accidents"... "see blinds are like regulars now." The furniture would talk to you when you got close to it... "I am a chair... I am a chair" and also you could upgrade to have it celebrity voices for more money... that show was so funny.
Is it safe to have blind people swinging lazer beams to and fro?
The white cane is not just a tool for the blind, but a clue for the sighted. All U.S. states have "white cane laws" that give the blind the right of way crossing the street no matter what (sometimes the white cane is in the shape of a guide dog). I really do not see how beep-beep noises would be in any way better than the tactile feedback of a cane. Not to mention a traditional cane or dog does not have batteries that can wear out suddenly, or stop working if dropped in a puddle.
I can see how this would appeal to my blind technophile friends, but it just ain't pratical, it just ain't safe.
My (blind) wife has this to add: "That gizmo would be useless for beating the crap out of sighties that get in my way".
This sure sounds like an unfortunate use of money for research into something that was pitched as an aid to the blind. As a cane user I can tell you that it is entirely impractical. Having something tell you "Stair down" or even "stair down .4521" (with the units having been configured in advance so it need not say "stair down .4521 meters" all the time) still wouldn't provide anywhere near as much needed information as one gets from their cane.
Your brain has a built in 3D model of the world around you. Even when you are blind your brain is still building and maintaining that model. I have had very little success with that model being truly updated by external descriptions, whereas the sense of touch, as extended by a cane, plugs straight into that model. When I touch the edge of a stair with a cane I am able to confidently walk to that edge, I can then touch the edge of the next stair, with the updated 3D model (and practice) I can confidently descend stairs and locate obstacles like inconsiderate humans sitting on the stairs in the bus tunnel in down town Seattle (a hazard for sighted folks trying to catch a bus in a hurry as well.)
The other major issue is navigation. A cane lets a blind person feel their way across an intersection. Those white lines painted on the street with thick paint can be felt with the cane and let you walk across the street with more confidence, just as they let the sighted see photons reflecting from them to aid them as well. Again, no talking device is going to assist with that.
If the device vibrated to let you feel the edge of the strip that would be useful, but the challenges in interpreting a small dot that varies in diameter with range into a usefully integrated sense of touch feedback signal would be incredibly complex. Much more difficult than tracking a DVD's data thread via laser. And who wants to trust their life to a device that could freak out like a DVD player given a scratched disc to play?
The real world is much more scratched up than even your most abused yet almost still playable DVD.
A cane also aids in navigation by allowing the user to finger print the world they travel through. The sighted see and recall land marks. A cane user feels landmarks through the cane.
In down town Seattle the NW corner of 3rd and Spring has a unique patch of very pebbly concrete that very nicely lets you know you are at the NW corner of 3rd and Spring.
The cane also allows you to identify things by sound. You can gently tap things and for example hear the gorilla bars on an SUV inconsiderately parked too far forward onto a walkway. You can tap metal poles installed to protect buildings from delivery vehicles. You can tap two side by side blocks of concrete and hear a subtle difference in the sound from them and tell where the sidewalk meets the interior slab of a building.
A laser sensor is very unlikely to be capable of rendering such assistance.
The third major issue I see is the already raised point of a white cane being a signal to others with normal sight that this person is someone that you MUST respect the personal space of. What it is really saying is: Sorry but you can't cut corners with my safety.
Running late to get to Crossroads Cinema to catch Ocean's Twelve before it starts? A normally sighted person can usually accommodate your not respecting their personal safety by cutting through the cross walk ahead of them forcing them to suddenly stop or become a hood ornament. But a person navigating with a white cane unfortunately can't compensate very well for your personal need to invade their personal space with your 2 ton SUV.
Even with white cane laws an increasing number of drivers routinely make decisions to invade the personal space of those using those white canes. At times it can almost seem as though a sighted driver must be thinking "Oh, poor blind person, your life must really suck, here, let me run you down in something they'll call an accident and I'll spare you the misery of the rest of your life."
A laser based "virtual cane" seems like a major set back in what little protection a white cane provides.
The other issue alluded to was "caning" the sighted to draw their attention to your needs. When a person using a white cane approaches a curb they need to find that curb and stand right on top of it. It is the safest way for them to cross the street. If someone is on a cell phone yammering away totally tuned out of the world around them the cane can be VERY useful in getting them to take a moment out of their personal life to kindly move aside, thank you kind sir. No virtual cane is going to provide that attention gaining assistance.
I'd like to close this comment with one further thought for those reading it. One person above expressed fear about the blind being turned loose with lasers. The blind don't need your fear, they don't need your pity. The one unfortunate thing they need is for you to respect that in some cases its easier for you to quietly move your personal space than it is for them to move their personal space to avoid your personal space.
If you want to stand there like a tree in the path of a blind person then you need to be prepared for them to tap you and find their way around you. Much in the same way that a normally sighted person finds their way around you via observing photons bouncing off you, except being tapped by a cane is much more personal than being tapped by a photon. To be tapped, or not to be tapped, the choice is yours.
My son was born blind. He uses a walker and finds a cane very hard to use. The laser may not be perfect but it may help some get out and about.