[nfb-talk] TALKING SHOES FOR THE BLIND

Humberto humbertoa5369 at netzero.net
Wed Oct 2 00:07:31 UTC 2013


How about talking brains for the blind...
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Mike Freeman" <k7uij at panix.com>
To: "'NFB Talk Mailing List'" <nfb-talk at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Tuesday, October 01, 2013 3:26 PM
Subject: Re: [nfb-talk] TALKING SHOES FOR THE BLIND


> Now *I'd* like to see talking feet for the blind! :-)
>
> Mike
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nfb-talk [mailto:nfb-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Ray Foret
> jr
> Sent: Tuesday, October 01, 2013 3:24 PM
> To: NFB Talk Mailing List
> Subject: Re: [nfb-talk] TALKING SHOES FOR THE BLIND
>
> Quite true.  After all, we're not all the same are we?
>
>
> Sent from my mac, the only computer with full accessibility for the blind
> built-in!
> Sincerely,
> The Constantly Barefooted Ray
> Still a very proud and happy Mac and Iphone user!
>
> On Oct 1, 2013, at 5:10 PM, "Mark Tardif" <markspark at roadrunner.com> 
> wrote:
>
>> Another good point.  And that's right, you're the constantly barefooted
> one, LOL.  And, I would imagine, in a country like India, blind people are
> probably much worse off than we are here in the good old United States of
> America, and many probably afford good shoes and do walk barefoot.
>>
>>
>>
>> Mark Tardif
>> Nuclear arms will not hold you.
>> -----Original Message----- From: Ray Foret jr
>> Sent: Tuesday, October 01, 2013 3:31 PM
>> To: NFB Talk Mailing List
>> Subject: Re: [nfb-talk] TALKING SHOES FOR THE BLIND
>>
>> Not to mention which, what if a blind person goes barefooted as much as
> possible?  Didn't think of that did they?
>>
>>
>> Sent from my mac, the only computer with full accessibility for the blind
> built-in!
>> Sincerely,
>> The Constantly Barefooted Ray
>> Still a very proud and happy Mac and Iphone user!
>>
>> On Oct 1, 2013, at 2:21 PM, "Gloria Whipple" <glowhi at centurylink.net>
> wrote:
>>
>>> Oh, give me a break!
>>>
>>> I hope it doesn't work out.
>>>
>>> Just my opinion.
>>>
>>> Gloria Whipple
>>>
>>>
>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> From: nfb-talk [mailto:nfb-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Joshua
>>> Lester
>>> Sent: Tuesday, October 01, 2013 12:01
>>> 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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