Man builds walking aid to help blind people navigate through traffic

Nkululeko was always a tech lover and has been creating inventions since he was a kid.

The gadget he invented is called Bulatsela, and consists of a walking aid that relies on artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning features to interpret surroundings in order to help blind users navigate through traffic.

“I was on a bus and I saw a woman standing at the traffic light and she stood there for a while. The traffic light turned green, turned red and green again, and she did not cross the street. That’s when I thought that there must be a way [to help people in her position] and started with my research and looked at existing options. The device helps detect objects and obstacles, creates a path and provides feedback to the blind person. It communicates via a wireless glove through Bluetooth. We have a GPS tracker as well as a mobile app that’s integrated in the device. You are able to check the location of the walking stick, control it remotely as well as check a live streaming video of the environment around”, Nkululeko explained.

According to the inventor, there are not similar products on the market. “The current products in the market are either single or double-sensored, while others [just give out] vibrations according to distance. Bulatsela will tell you where an object is and what the object is,” he expressed.

Nkululeko wants to get every blind people to be able to use his invention. He modified the current prototype to be conveniently smaller and smarter than his initial one and he is working on bringing it to the market. He built his own company, Olrdound Tech, for this purposes.

The entrepreneur is also in charge of a nonprofit organisation called Ghetto Nerds, which he uses to visit schools to teach pupils about computer programming and electronics.

Adapted from: https://bit.ly/2IdIkx8

More info: http://olroundtech.co.za/