Footwear for the Blind: Bluetooth shoes

The Economist JUL 14 2012, 9:09 by A.

A.K.  tilde Mumbai

MORE than 285m people across the globe suffer from visual 
impairment.

Yet the tools to assist the blind in walking have changed little 
since the 1920's, when their canes started being painted white to 
make other pedestrians more aware of their presence.  The gizmos 
that do exist have tended to be expensive and clunky, and have 
not caught on.  This may change if Anirudh Sharma, a 24-year-old 
computer engineer from Hyderabad, a city in the Indian state of 
Andhra Pradesh, has his way.

His innovation, dubbed "Le Chal" ("take me along" in Hindi) pairs 
a smartphone app with a small actuator sewn inside the sole of 
one shoe via Bluetooth.  The user tells the phone his desired 
destination, which is translated into electronic commands using 
voice-recognition software.  The app, which can be programmed to 
run in the background, fetches the local map of the area.  The 
phone's Global Positioning System (GPS) tracks the person's 
location in real-time, telling the actuator to vibrate when it is 
time to turn.  The side of the shoe where the vibration is felt 
indicates which way to go.  Mr Sharma opted for a vibrating 
signal because for the blind, who rely on their sense of hearing 
to make sense of the environment, audio feedback is a 
distraction.

The system does not require constant internet access.  Once 
downloaded, maps can be stored locally and combined with GPS 
data.  The app uses Open Street Maps (OSM), an open-source rival 
to Google Maps.  OSM allows editing, a helpful feature in 
updating rapidly changing urban landscapes.  A speed-dial 
function can rapidly retrieve the most frequently visited routes.

The shoe pod is also equipped with an obstacle-detection 
mechanism.  A sensor in the tip of the shoe, devised by Mr 
Sharma's business partner, Krispian Lawrence, scans the vicinity 
using sonar, which emits ultrasounds that bounce off obstacles, 
indicating their presence.  The shoe sets off a distinct pattern 
of vibrations to alert the person of any obstruction and guides 
him around it.

For now, the footwear, being tested at the L.V.  Prasad Eye 
Institute, one of India's biggest eye-health facilities, may be 
most useful in areas with little or no traffic, such as quiet 
residential streets or parks.  The challenge, Mr Lawrence says, 
is to get the algorithm to tell an uncovered manhole from a 
flight of stairs, but he expects it to be able to do so in due 
course.  Dealing with moving obstacles like cars may take longer, 
though the pair are working on ways to alert wearers not just 
about cars' presence, but also their speed.

To ensure that the final product resembles a regular shoe, 
fashion technologists are being consulted to help with ergonomics 
and design.

Mr Sharma and Mr Lawrence, who started a company called Ducere 
Technologies to commercialise their idea, say their high-tech 
brogues should not cost more than an ordinary, stylish pair.  
Many of the world's visually impaired will like the sound of 
that.


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