Computer scientists have created an ‘intelligent’ shoe that helps blind and men’s brand leather shoes visually-impaired people avoid multiple obstacles.
The £2,700 (€3,200) product, called InnoMake, has been developed by Austrian company Tec-Innovation, southwest office shoes. backed by Graz University of Technology (TU Graz).
The product consists of waterproof ultrasonic sensors attached to the tip of each shoe, which vibrate and make noises near obstacles.
The closer the wearer gets to an obstacle, the faster the vibration becomes, much like a parking sensor on the back of a vehicle.
Tec-Innovation is now working on embedding an AI-powered camera as part of a new iteration of the product.
The shoe as it is now already available on the market.
The ultrasonic sensor men’s brand leather shoes is attached to the toe of the shoe. In the future, a camera plus a processor running the algorithm will be integrated there
‘Ultrasonic sensors on the toe of the shoe detect obstacles up to four meters [13 feet] away,’ said Markus Raffer, a founder of Tec-Innovation and himself visually impaired.
‘The wearer is then warned by vibration and/or acoustic signals. This works very well and is already a great help to me personally.’
The product price includes one device per foot, along with one pair of shoes (or installation on an exiting pair of shoes), as well as a USB charger.
Markus Raffer, a founder of Tec-Innovation and himself visually impaired is managing director of Tec-Innovation. He’s pictured here with his creation
The system detects two pieces of information that are key to avoiding obstacles, the scientists say – the nature of an obstacle and its directional path, especially if downward facing, such as holes or stairs leading into a subway.
<div class="art-ins mol-factbox sciencetech floatRHS" data-version="2" id="mol-0d066fa0-adba-11eb-953e-a5380073b0af" website develop £2,700 'shoe camera' that detects obstacles
