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How a Shoe Lets the Blind See With Their Feet
A new shoe, dubbed "Le Chal," allows the blind to let their feet lead the way, in yet another way smartphone technology is helping them "see" where to go.
Invented by 24-year-old Anirudh Sharma of India, Le Chal, or "take me along" in Hindi, uses sensors sewn into the sole to feed data to a smartphone connected through Bluetooth.
The user tells his smartphone his destination, using voice recognition software, and the app finds a local map of the area. It also uses the phone's global programming system to track the person's location.
The app then sends, through Bluetooth, signals that tell the wearer's shoe the direction, causing it to vibrate when it's time for the wearer to turn toward their intended destination, with the side of the foot where the vibration is felt indicating which way to go. The shoe also uses sonar to bounce ultrasounds off obstacles, alerting the wearer of any obstruction and guiding him around it.
Sharma said he chose the vibration, rather than sound, because audio feedback can distract blind people. The app doesn't need constant Internet access, because downloaded maps are stored on the smartphone and combined with GPS.
Maps are gathered using Open Street Maps, not Google Maps, which allows it to be used on all smartphones. So when Apple's new iPhone 5 comes out this fall, the maps will still be compatible, and also, unlike Google Maps, OSM allows the maps to be edited, unlike Google Maps.
One big problem with the device is that it can't yet differentiate between dangers, leaving a very real possibility the wearer could walk into an open manhole that he can't tell from a street curb. Further, it's not yet able to deal with moving obstacles, like cars, but the developers are working on ways to alert wearers to cars and their speed.
The new Bluetooth app joins similar creations that may help blind people "see" by gathering data through sophisticated sensors and translating that information in a useful and easy-to-understand manner.
Several haptic-capable tablet programs are especially useful as hands-on devices to guide those without sight through complicated drawings and graphs, using touch or other sensations to translate information on a blind person's surroundings.
One of these devices, a touchscreen app created by California-based Tactus Technology, lets users feel haptic feedback-enhanced tablet keyboards as they type, making it easier for blind people to write documents on mobile devices.
Another gadget, a stand-alone headset called EyeMusic may help blind people "see" colors and shapes through sound. The headset's glasses include a built-in webcam and headphones, to help the visually impaired identify objects through real-time digital camerawork and pre-set soundscapes. Colors, shapes and other visual properties are translated into sound, helping users gain a sense of their physical environment through senses other than sight.
The Bluetooth shoes, however, are different from many other apps on the market, because instead of keeping them isolated -- as a mobile tablet app can do if it keeps the user at home -- the shoe app, if perfected, may help those without sight to regain a measure of independence by allowing to move more freely oustide the home environment in public places.
A new shoe, dubbed "Le Chal," allows the blind to let their feet lead the way, in yet another way smartphone technology is helping them "see" where to go.
Invented by 24-year-old Anirudh Sharma of India, Le Chal, or "take me along" in Hindi, uses sensors sewn into the sole to feed data to a smartphone connected through Bluetooth.
The user tells his smartphone his destination, using voice recognition software, and the app finds a local map of the area. It also uses the phone's global programming system to track the person's location.
The app then sends, through Bluetooth, signals that tell the wearer's shoe the direction, causing it to vibrate when it's time for the wearer to turn toward their intended destination, with the side of the foot where the vibration is felt indicating which way to go. The shoe also uses sonar to bounce ultrasounds off obstacles, alerting the wearer of any obstruction and guiding him around it.
Sharma said he chose the vibration, rather than sound, because audio feedback can distract blind people. The app doesn't need constant Internet access, because downloaded maps are stored on the smartphone and combined with GPS.
Maps are gathered using Open Street Maps, not Google Maps, which allows it to be used on all smartphones. So when Apple's new iPhone 5 comes out this fall, the maps will still be compatible, and also, unlike Google Maps, OSM allows the maps to be edited, unlike Google Maps.
One big problem with the device is that it can't yet differentiate between dangers, leaving a very real possibility the wearer could walk into an open manhole that he can't tell from a street curb. Further, it's not yet able to deal with moving obstacles, like cars, but the developers are working on ways to alert wearers to cars and their speed.
The new Bluetooth app joins similar creations that may help blind people "see" by gathering data through sophisticated sensors and translating that information in a useful and easy-to-understand manner.
Several haptic-capable tablet programs are especially useful as hands-on devices to guide those without sight through complicated drawings and graphs, using touch or other sensations to translate information on a blind person's surroundings.
One of these devices, a touchscreen app created by California-based Tactus Technology, lets users feel haptic feedback-enhanced tablet keyboards as they type, making it easier for blind people to write documents on mobile devices.
Another gadget, a stand-alone headset called EyeMusic may help blind people "see" colors and shapes through sound. The headset's glasses include a built-in webcam and headphones, to help the visually impaired identify objects through real-time digital camerawork and pre-set soundscapes. Colors, shapes and other visual properties are translated into sound, helping users gain a sense of their physical environment through senses other than sight.
The Bluetooth shoes, however, are different from many other apps on the market, because instead of keeping them isolated -- as a mobile tablet app can do if it keeps the user at home -- the shoe app, if perfected, may help those without sight to regain a measure of independence by allowing to move more freely oustide the home environment in public places.
