[nabs-l] [LCA] a cane for the blind improves socialinteractions]

[Chris Nusbaum]

Hi Arielle,

I agree with all of your thoughts here! While the technology 
behind this is a good idea, I think it shouldn't be in a cane.  I 
like Jedi's idea of making an iPhone app.  I mean, how easy would 
that be? Or, they could even put the technology in the existing 
GPS products for the blind, like the Trekker-Breeze or the 
Kapten.  No, don't put it in a cane! And, you are right about 
some of the misconceptions about blindness stated in this 
article.  It sounded to me very much like one that Dr.  Maurer 
would read at a banquet speech at national convention and the 
whole audience would laugh about how rediculously funny the 
misconceptions about blindness depicted in it were.

Chris

"The real problem of blindness is not the loss of eyesight.  The 
real problem is the misunderstanding and lack of education that 
exists.  If a blind person has the proper training and 
opportunity, blindness can be reduced to a mere physical 
nuisance."
-- Kenneth Jernigan (President, National Federation of the Blind, 
1968-1986

 The I C.A.N.  Foundation helps blind and visually impaired youth 
in Maryland say "I can," by empowering them through providing 
assistive technology and scholarships to camps and conventions 
which help them be equal with their sighted peers.  For more 
information about the Foundation and to support our work, visit 
us online at www.icanfoundation.info!

 ----- Original Message -----
From: Arielle Silverman <arielle71 at gmail.com
To: nabs-l at nfbnet.org
Date sent: Mon, 28 Nov 2011 18:28:44 -0700
Subject: Re: [nabs-l] [LCA] a cane for the blind improves 
socialinteractions]

Hi all,
A few comments:
1.  I couldn't help but notice some of the pathetic and 
exaggerated
statements in the article, such as "They must be dependent on 
another
person" (for social interaction).  While it is true we can't 
locate
silent people, we can, and do, use our ears to find people at 
times.
This aspect of blindness is completely ignored here and I am not 
even
sure if this invventor is aware that blind people use their ears 
as a
means to find people.  And, in spite of what the article says, I
learned at a young age to detect my mother's presence in a room.  
:)
2.  I don't quite get it.  So in order to locate someone with the
device, that person has to check in on Foursquare or another such
venue? I know even my friends who are heavy Foursquare users 
don't
check in everywhere they go.  So what are the odds of 
accidentally
bumping into someone who checked in on Foursquare right where you 
are?
Most of the time we need to find people is in small and crowded 
spaces
like at meetings or parties, where people may or may not check 
in.  If
I make plans to meet a friend and they have to go to the trouble 
of
checking in for me to find them, it'd be easier for them to just 
come
up and say hi to me, no?
That said, I might be for something that uses face-recognition
technology to ID people in a small space, like a meeting etc.
3.  I agree with others that it'd be more practical to implement 
this
as an app rather than as part of a cane.  Also, I like the idea 
of
overhead object identification as cane users currently have 
little
defense against overhead objects.  But is a mere beep sufficient 
to
tell the user exactly what is hanging overhead, how far down it's
hanging, how big it is, etc.? It reminds me of the infamous 
"watch
out" sometimes exclaimed by sighted onlookers, which is very 
general
and meaningless.  The cane gives tactile feedback so we know what 
is on
the ground-at least how big it is, how close it is and where the 
clear
path is-so it seems we would need to get similar tactile feedback 
for
overhead objects in order for the technology to be effective.
Otherwise we might as well just use a plain old cane with a GPS 
app.
Best,
Arielle

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