Man develops high-tech canes to help the blind

Wazeer Hayath once saw a blind man who was having trouble navigating on the street as several objects and people appeared on his way.

This inspired him to innovate. He created a special white cane that works as an ‘eye’ for blind people. Inside the cane there are battery-powered sensors. These sensors get activated and send an audio alert when they detect an object bigger than 2,54 cm (one inch).

“The speciality of this stick is that whenever there will be any pothole or marshy water or any other obstacle on a crowded road which generally people face then there will be sensors and six other applications to convey the message to the blind person,” said Wazeer.

After getting a viable design, he kept exploring different ways of changing the canes and ended up creating several high-tech sticks. Nowadays, he has patents for 5 different high-tech white canes.

The stick is programmed in 18 different languages, so that it reaches a bigger number of blind people.

Some of his ideas for the device include attaching a laser and sensor in the same device, having vibration and audio sound together and facilities for recharging the stick. He is also exploring a device that blind people could move around without a stick. This device would have sensors to detect obstacles, weigh less than 100 grams and have a mobile phone shape.

Currently, he is developing a scanner that identifies important buildings, markets and bus stops to help guide blind people in the city. However, in order to set up transmitters or relay points on the public building he will need support from the government.

Wazeer says his invention has contributed to making blind people more self-reliant.

He has since become an entrepreneur by creating the company Waz Technologies, where he sells his canes.

He makes the canes on order from different NGOs (Non-Governmental Organisations). The Blind Association of Australia, for example. has ordered 500 units.

Wazeer says there have also been international requests to buy his patents.

Adapted from: http://bit.ly/2lPFW7X

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