Guide Stick

Foldable white canes help the 1 impaired navigate their surroundings. But the guide stick's tactile nature offers only so much information. The cane's user must manually find and avoid obstructions. But new high-tech canes are on the horizon.Last year researchers in India tried to fill in some of the missing info with their experimental SmartCane . The device uses an attached ultrasonic transmitter and a sensor that vibrates the cane to warn its users when an obstacle is within three meters. Students at the U.K.'s Birmingham City University are developing a cane that can even identify acquaintances as they 2 . Called the 'XploR' mobility cane, it includes an 3 digital camera that analyzes the faces of people walking by and compares their images against a database stored on a memory card in the cane's handle.If there's a facial recognition match, the cane alerts the user's 4 via Bluetooth. The phone then identifies the approaching person to the user via its speaker or earbuds. The 5 are building a prototype they'll test later this year.The hurdles are significant: facial recognition is a tough problem, especially outdoors. But if the XploR works, it could actually give the visually impaired a leg up on everyone else—especially those of us who never remember people's names.