Footwear for the Blind: Bluetooth Shoes Paired with a GPS Tracker App
30 Aug 2012Suppose you had a friend or loved one who was visually impaired, and suddenly was able to utilize a new, modern technology device for the ease of getting around on their own? That’s what the newest shoes — referred to as bluetooth shoes — developed by Anirudh Sharma is set to provide.
The visually impaired will soon have more to choose from, besides walking canes or guide dogs; they’ll be able to walk and travel on their own — thanks to state-of-the-art GPS technology installed in none other than the person’s own shoe.
With more than 285 million people in the world without sight, there’s a surprisingly small amount of tools to aid them in their daily lives. But with the ingenuity of Sharma, a 24-year old computer engineer from India, there’s additional help on the way.
Born in Andhra, Pradesh, Anirudh Sharma has developed an actuator device that installs in a person’s shoe, and to which combines a smartphone application with a Bluetooth actuator. The device is called “Le Chal” which means “take me along” in Hindi.
This actuator has advanced voice-recognition software meant to send signals from the shoe to a smartphone, and will give real-time alerts to let the visually-impaired person know where to go next. It’s specially programmed to always be running behind the scenes, with maps of the shoe-wearer’s current physical location, using GPS tracking and coordinates.
Here’s the basics on how the technology works. The device vibrates on one side of the person’s shoe or the other – signaling it is time to turn right or left. This can help the visually impaired to avoid running into obstacles. Uniquely, the footwear’s actuator has the ability to detect obstacles in its path, through a sensor in the tip of their shoe. Anirudh Sharma’s business partner, Krispian Lawrence, invented the sensor, which works with sonar to scan the current area surrounding, and the shoe wearer is alerted with vibrations in the shoe if an object is in his path.
The device won’t require constant Internet access, which is another big benefit. Maps of the area are downloaded to the device and the smartphone application, which are stored locally. This means that as long as the individual’s phone is charged, he or she can utilize the GPS tracker device provided by the special footwear.
There are also other uses for this type of GPS shoe tracking software: including the ability to track someone who is not with you, such as a child or elderly family member or for sports and fitness enthusiasts in tracking their workout route, for example.
As of now, this advanced footwear for the blind is being tested at the L.V. Prasad Eye Institute in India, in hopes that they will improve the actuator’s ability to work with GPS as well as detect obstacles.
And since a major concern is the look of the shoe, Sharma and Lawrence have a fashion team designing a shoe that can not only be functional, but appear to be a typical shoe to everyone else. What’s more, the footwear for the blind shoes shouldn’t cost more than a traditional, stylish pair of shoes.
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