Time Magazine Inventions: WeWalk Smart Cane
Hi guys, this week’s blog post shifts from digital accessibility to assistive technology. One of the most popular publications on the planet – Time Magazine has featured several AT devices this year in their top 100 inventions of 2019. The WeWalk smart cane was one of those fantastic and innovative solutions. WeWalk was designed by Kursat Ceylan, who happens to be blind to overcome one of his activities of daily living – mobility in the world around him.
The origin of the device came when one day, Kursat was heading to his hotel using a smartphone map app, his traditional white and pulling his luggage, when he walked into a metal pole injuring his forehead. After this event, he co-developed the WeWalk smart cane to aid other visually impaired and blind people navigate their environment more safely than using a cane while simultenously utilizing a smartphone for spoken directions. The WeWalk provides object detection above chest level (up to 1.7 m in height), and pairs with several GPS maps including Google Maps. The device currently retails for just under $500. WeWalk’s object detection is quite different from other devices due to the height of object detection which is ideal for detecting low hanging branches and sign poles.
To learn more about WeWalk head to their website linked here
Thank you for reading,
Andrew
