[rehab] vibrating NFB cane

[Lansaw, Jane]

That's right Dick.  This was an NFB 50/50 cane and it's primary selling
point was its implications for deaf blind travelers.  I want to buy one
for experimental purposes.  When Mr. McGirr brought it, we discussed the
ability to detect an open bus door, a person in line ahead of you and
something large, like a bus arriving in front of you as you stand in one
spot.  We get a few deaf blind folks and some with neuropathy.  I will
be interested to see if folks with neuropathy even know if the cane is
vibrating.  Mainly though, like most ETA devices, I think it's just a
toy for travel teachers.  At least until it demonstrates some usefulness
for specific blind people.  Mr. McGirr seems to have dropped off the
face of the earth though and I left a message with our tech department
in Baltimore to see if they know what happened to the device.  

Jane

-----Original Message-----
From: rehab-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:rehab-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
Behalf Of Dick Davis
Sent: Wednesday, December 10, 2008 1:57 PM
To: 'Rehabilitation Counselor Mailing List'
Subject: Re: [rehab] vibrating NFB cane

If it is what I think it is, it was demonstrated in Dallas in 2006.  It
was
an NFB cane that had a sonar unit attached.  I tried it along with a
number
of others.  It was heavier, and it did not appear to provide much in the
way
of new information. 

There was another unit that hung around a person's neck and looked
somewhat
like a camera.  We tested it here and weren't all that impressed by it.
I
know it was sent out for beta testing by the Science and Technology
Division, but I don't think they ever went into production.  I cannot
remember if the modified cane was one of their projects, but I bet their
president could tell you.  Contact information for them should be on
NFB.org.  

There was also a Japanese company that created a small, relatively
inexpensive handheld unit that I hoped could detect stopped and moving
cars
so deafblind people could know when it was safe to cross the street.  We
tested it here, and it couldn't.  I believe they were marketing it at
the
2006 NFB convention.  

Sonar and related devices have been around since at least the 1970's,
and
none of them have caught on.  They seem to be limited in a number of
ways:
distance, ability to focus, lack of detail, inability to detect drop
offs,
etc.  The good old long white cane still provides a lot more in the way
of
information and does it much cheaper.  

Hope all this helps.

Dick Davis

-----Original Message-----
From: rehab-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:rehab-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
Behalf
Of Lansaw, Jane
Sent: Wednesday, December 10, 2008 7:59 AM
To: Rehabilitation Counselor Mailing List
Subject: Re: [rehab] vibrating NFB cane

Yeah, this was a 50-50 cane that a guy in Baltimore invented.  *I heard
we were selling it for $200 but can't find it on the website.  It is
cool, has lots of possibilities for people who are deaf blind.  

-----Original Message-----
From: rehab-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:rehab-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
Behalf Of Nancy Coffman
Sent: Tuesday, December 09, 2008 9:00 PM
To: Rehabilitation Counselor Mailing List
Subject: Re: [rehab] vibrating NFB cane

It seemed that the vibrating thing was something you put around your
neck. 
You then used a regular cane with it for those obstacles on the ground. 
That's what we had at research and development, but there may have been 
other things in other places.

Nancy Coffman


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Lansaw, Jane" <Jane.Lansaw at dars.state.tx.us>
To: "Rehabilitation Counselor Mailing List" <rehab at nfbnet.org>
Cc: <nomc-bounces at lists.nbpcb.org>
Sent: Tuesday, December 09, 2008 4:36 PM
Subject: [rehab] vibrating NFB cane


> Does anyone know whatever happened to the 50-50 cane that Mr. McGurr
> turned into a vibrating cane to detect overhanging obstacles?  Did we
> ever market it?  I can't find it on the website or in the independence
> mart.    He was demoing it in  Louisville  in04, I think.  I remember
it
> was Louisville but can't be sure it was 04.  Conventions are starting
to
> run together in my mind.
>
>
>
> Thanks guys,
>
>
>
> Jane Lansaw
>
>
>
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