The Smart Cane May Bring A Normal Life To Visually Impaired People

Even for people with good vision, navigating in cities isn’t always easy, especially when they don’t use any GPS apps or navigation apps like Google Maps. And visually impaired people, of course, have faced much more difficulties than others.

As one of those who suffer from congenital blindness, Kursat Ceylan hoped to leverage the technology to enhance the life quality of people with visual impairments around the world. In a recent interview with CNN, he said:

Ceylan now serves as the CEO and Co-founder of WeWALK. He has inked pact with engineers at the Young Guru Academy, Turkey to develop a joint product called WeWALK Smart Cane. With it, blind people will have a chance to enjoy a normal life similar to any other. Ultrasonic sensors that are integrated into the smart cane allow users to detect objects via ankle level and chest level via its shaft. And therefore, users can get instant notification via the vibration mode.

To control the smart cane, users just need to access the touchpad control panel or leverage the Bluetooth connection to sync to the application of WeWALK. That means users can both hold the cane and conduct many various tasks at the same time.

The latest sources point out that these developers have worked on make a lot of improvements for both the application and the cane. The advanced product can now connect with Google Maps and Voice Assistant. In other words, navigating directions, as well as searching for the nearest stores, will be no longer an issue. The developers also hope that they can integrate more applications into this smart cane in the upcoming time.

Users will have to pay about Rs 35,800 ($500) to own a smart cane. In addition, the startup from Turkey also hopes to attract more interest from the global community and soon enhance its product’s capabilities by bringing more things from public transport services to ride-share apps to the smart cane.