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Overview Of Practical Tools For The Blind

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In today’s world’s population there are about 285 million people who are blind or visually impaired and this number is increasing rapidly, so it is crucial to create new devices to make their lives easier. Since 1921, the most common mobility aid for blind people has been the white cane and it was recognized as a tool to also alert people that the individual using it was visually impaired (Philip strong, 2009). However, white canes can only detect obstacles at ground level and anything within 1m of the user which is a big downside of this tool and is the reason why there are researches on designing more efficient mobility aids for the visually impaired. The main aim of designing practical tools for the blind, is to enable them to move …show more content…

The main feature of this tool is that it detects the shape of the road by getting information through sensors and it notifies the user when any obstacles or unknown places are detected by the vibrating motor on its handle (Ultracane, 2011). The type of sensors used in ultracanes are called ultrasonic sensors which are transmitters and receivers of ultrasound. The way they operate is that ultrasound waves are sent from the sensors and reflected waveforms indicate different sizes of objects and obstacles and according to this information the user will get notified is they have to change their direction or path. Ultrasonic sensors are favourable in electronic aid devices and it is due to their cost-effectiveness and light weight (Carullo A.; Parvis M. 2001). In addition, ultracanes have two different modes of sensors which are for detecting knee and ground level obstacles and they also have replaceable cane tips and batteries. The obstacle detection range for these canes are 1.6 meters in the upward direction and within 4 meters of handle in the forward direction which is almost four times more than traditional white canes thus, it gives blind people more freedom of mobility with increased safety and speed (Ultracane, 2011). (a) (b)

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