[nfb-talk] TALKING SHOES FOR THE BLIND

Wed Oct 2 00:23:14 UTC 2013

I'll do that, but if you noticed, there's a Youtube video on there!
Those of you with a Youtube account can open up that video link, and comment there!
Thanks, Joshua
________________________________________
From: nfb-talk [nfb-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] on behalf of Humberto [humbertoa5369 at netzero.net]
Sent: Tuesday, October 01, 2013 7:19 PM
To: NFB Talk Mailing List
Subject: Re: [nfb-talk] TALKING SHOES FOR THE BLIND

You can try researching the title and / or headline of the article. Maybe
you can even find contact information online.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Joshua Lester" <JLester8462 at pccua.edu>
To: "NFB Talk Mailing List" <nfb-talk at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Tuesday, October 01, 2013 5:09 PM
Subject: Re: [nfb-talk] TALKING SHOES FOR THE BLIND

>A friend forwarded this E-Mail to me, with no mention of where she got it
>from.
> Blessings, Joshua
> ________________________________________
> From: nfb-talk [nfb-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] on behalf of Humberto
> [humbertoa5369 at netzero.net]
> Sent: Tuesday, October 01, 2013 7:02 PM
> To: NFB Talk Mailing List
> Subject: Re: [nfb-talk] TALKING SHOES FOR THE BLIND
>
> one thing you can do is you can write a letter to the editor of that
> publication you got this material from, and get him to educate himself
> about
> blindness. Tel him the technology is unnecesary. Not only he is going to
> learn this himself, but if he chooses to publish the information, everyone
> else who views that publication (and the rest of the general public who
> could perhaps look at this in the future) can be educated. This an online
> publication (from what I see), so even better.
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Joshua Lester" <JLester8462 at pccua.edu>
> To: "NFB Talk Mailing List" <nfb-talk at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Tuesday, October 01, 2013 12:55 PM
> Subject: Re: [nfb-talk] TALKING SHOES FOR THE BLIND
>
>
>> What's crazy is that there's no contact information for the guys that
>> invented this!
>> I'd like to be able to contact them, and tell them that this isn't
>> necessary!
>> Blessings, Joshua
>> ________________________________________
>> From: nfb-talk [nfb-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] on behalf of Mark Tardif
>> [markspark at roadrunner.com]
>> Sent: Tuesday, October 01, 2013 2:53 PM
>> To: NFB Talk Mailing List
>> Subject: Re: [nfb-talk] TALKING SHOES FOR THE BLIND
>>
>> Oh, honestly.  This is one of these well-intentioned, but really
>> unnecessary
>> ideas, technology run riot.  Really, the last time I checked we weren't
>> elien beings requiring these weird inovations.  Just my opinion.
>>
>>
>>
>> Mark Tardif
>> Nuclear arms will not hold you.
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Joshua Lester
>> Sent: Tuesday, October 01, 2013 3:01 PM
>> To: nfb-talk at nfbnet.org
>> Subject: [nfb-talk] TALKING SHOES FOR THE BLIND
>>
>> Good grief!
>> What's next?
>> Blessings, Joshua
>>
>> A haunting black-and-white video screened during the TED Fellows talks<
>>
>> http://blog.ted.com/2013/02/25/ted-fellows-give-their-talks-at-ted2013
>>
>> depicted people speaking into a device and then walking - at first
>> taking halting steps, then more confident strides. As the video
>> unfolds, the camera zooms in on the faces of the walkers - revealing
>> that they are blind. With his team, TED Senior Fellow Anthony Vipin
>> Das, an eye surgeon, has been developing haptic shoes that use
>> vibration and GPS technology to guide the blind. This innovation -
>> which could radically change the lives of the vision-impaired - has
>> drawn the interest of the United States Department of Defense, which
>> has recently shortlisted the project for a $2 million research grant.
>> Anthony tells us the story behind the shoe.
>> Tell us about the haptic shoe.
>>
>> The shoe is called Le Chal, which means "take me there" in Hindi. My
>> team, Anirudh Sharma and Krispian Lawrence and I, are working on a
>> haptic shoe that uses GPS to guide the blind. The most difficult
>> problems that the blind usually face when they navigate is orientation
>> and direction, as well as obstacle detection. The shoe is in its
>> initial phase of testing: We've crafted the technology down to an
>> insole that can fit into any shoe and is not limited by the shape of
>> the footwear, and it vibrates to guide the user. It's so intuitive that
>> if I tap on your right shoulder, you will turn to your right; if I tap
>> on your left shoulder, you turn to your left. The shoe basically guides
>> the user on the foot on which he's supposed to take a turn. This is for
>> direction. The shoe also keeps vibrating if you're not oriented in the
>> direction of your initial path, and will stop vibrating when you're
>> headed in the right direction. It basically brings the wearer back on
>> track as we check orientation at regular intervals. Currently I'm
>> conducting the first clinical study at LV Prasad Eye Institute in
>> Hyderabad, India. It's very encouraging to see the kind of response
>> we've had from wearers. They were so moved because it was probably the
>> very first time that they had the sense of independence to move
>> confidently - that the shoe was talking to them, telling them where to
>> go and what to do.
>> How do you tell the shoe where you want to go?
>>
>> It uses GPS tracking, and we've put in smart taps: gestures that the
>> shoe can learn. You tap twice, and it'll take you home. If you lift
>> your heel for five seconds, the shoe might understand, "This is one of
>> my favorite locations." And not just that. If a shoe detects a fall, it
>> can automatically call an emergency number. Moving forward, we want to
>> try to decrease the dependency on the phone and the network to a great
>> extent. We hope to crowdsource maps and build up enough data to store
>> on the shoe itself.
>>
>> The second phase we are working on is obstacle detection. India has got
>> such a varied terrain. The shoe can detect immediate obstacles like
>> stones, potholes, steps. It's not a replacement for the cane, but it's
>> an additive benefit for a visually impaired person to offer a sense of
>> direction and orientation.
>> Are you still in the development stage?
>>
>> The insole is already done. We are currently testing it. I'm using
>> simple and complex paths - simple paths like a square, rectangle,
>> triangle and a circle, and complex paths include a zigzag or a random
>> path. Then we are going to step it up with navigation into a
>> neighborhood. From there we'll develop navigation to distant locations,
>> including the use of public transportation. It will be a stepwise study
>> that we'll finish over the middle of this year, then go in for
>> manufacturing the product. You're an eye doctor. How did you get
>> involved in this?
>>
>> I'm an eye surgeon who loves to step out of my box and try to see
>> others who are working in similar areas of technology that are helpful
>> for my patients. So Anirudh Sharma and I, we're on the same TR35 list
>> of India in 2012. I said, "Dude, I think we can be doing stuff with the
>> shoe and my patients. Let's see how we can refine it." There was
>> already an initial prototype when he presented last year at EmTech in
>> Bangalore. Anirudh teamed up with one of his friends, Krispian Lawrence
>> of Ducere Technologies in Hyderabad, who is leading the development and
>> logistics to get this into the market. We just formed a really cool
>> team, and started working on the shoe, started testing it on our
>> patients and refining the model further and further. Finally we've come
>> to a stage where my patients are walking and building a bond with the
>> shoe.
>> Are these patients comfortable with the shoe?
>>
>> Yes, it's totally unobtrusive. And more importantly, we are working on
>> developing the first vibration language in the world for the Haptic
>> Shoe. We're looking at standardizing the vibration, like Braille, which
>> is multilingual. But even more crucial than the technology, the shoe is
>> basically talking to the walker. How they can trust the shoe? So that's
>> an angle that we are looking at. Because at the end of the day, it's
>> the shoe that's guiding you to the destination. We're trying to build
>> that bond between the walker and the sole.
>> Building a bond with the sole. That's good. I'm going to use that.
>>
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
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