# Haptic Technology May Revolutionize Mobility!!

Category: Let's talk

## Post 1 by hardyboy09 (I'm going for the prolific poster awards!) on Thursday, 07-Jan-2016 2:59:52

Announced earlier this year, an Indian company produced a set of haptic footwear termed Lechal or take along. Gentle vibrations provide the end-user with subtle, but prominent vibrations in either the left or right foot in conjunction with an application on an IPhone (not entirely certain if an Android version exists.) Initially, it was hoped that the company would continue to focus on the blindness community, equipping shoes with the ability to alert the user to obstacles in one's immediate vicinity.
A couple of years since that project launched, another crowd funding site has reached its objective--in November or December.
The Buzz Clip was designed and engineered by two students both attending a university in Canada. For beta testers, Canadians were utilized, but sadly no American citizens I do not think. What this device reminds me a lot of is the ultrasonic cane, something that is severely overpriced, manufactured in Europe, and consists of two buttons integrated into the device's handle that emit vibrations, depending on how close or far a person is from an object. Essentially, the Buzz Clip will have similar technology--however, it promises to deliver at least 10 hrs of battery life, provides an automatic sleep function that shuts the device off when having a conversation, and supposedly detects obstacles at head level. With so many other products, do you think that the Buzz Clip is and will continue to be a valuable piece of equipment in the assistive technology industry? Voice your opinions here. I would love to hear your thoughts.

## Post 2 by Voyager (I just keep on posting!) on Thursday, 07-Jan-2016 13:27:27

I admit I've never tested any of these devices. My impression is that they vibrate when they sense something and that's all. They don't give you any impression of what that something is. Echolocation and cane use not only tell me where something is but also what it might be. I wish for a device to do this.
One really cool application of these vibrating motors that I saw a year or two ago was a compass belt. It had motors all around it and constantly buzzed the one facing north. I would buy one but sadly I don't think they're available.

## Post 3 by ADVOCATOR! (Finally getting on board!) on Thursday, 07-Jan-2016 14:51:17

With the ability of getting a dog guide becoming less, for those of us using wheelchairs, I'd give something valuable, if I had it, for a device that would work on my chair. However, I don't have that kind of bucks.
Blessings,
Sarah

## Post 4 by BryanP22 (Novice theriminist) on Thursday, 07-Jan-2016 15:02:36

One device I tried about ten years ago that I found really cool was called a Sonic Torch. It was a little handle with a pair of headphones attached to it. It was shaped like the handle on a suitcase that would slip onto the handle of a cane. Not only would it vibrate but it produced an audible cue through the headphones when you got close to an object. The really interesting thing for me was that if the object was softer, say a bush, the sound would be a softer one, where as if it was a harder object, say a wall or a car, the sound would be "harder." They were also fairly non intrusive sounds that would get your attention yet not completely distract you from everything else. This is more tha I could say about the auditory Miniguide unit that the Sendero Group produced in addition to their tactile one. That one was anoying as hell.

## Post 5 by forereel (Just posting.) on Thursday, 07-Jan-2016 19:10:58

I'd have to try it to see.
I imagine some would like it, others not.

## Post 6 by Smiling Sunshine (I've now got the bronze prolific poster award! now going for the silver award!) on Friday, 08-Jan-2016 13:28:52

Being that I'm horribly ticklish, I'm probably out on this one. Just because it's not for me though, doesn't mean I don't support it. What works for one may or may not work for another. As for me though, I'll stick with the stick until I am in a position to get another 4-legged furry mobility aid. lol

## Post 7 by LeoGuardian (You mean there is something outside of this room with my computer in it?) on Friday, 08-Jan-2016 15:35:13

I'd love a device where I could walk hands-free. We all have worked around how to carry lots of stuff, especially as parents, and use a cane. But if they ever make a device where we can walk hands-free I'm going to pilot it, probably over the rather stalwart objections from the Better Half.
The major concern is drop-offs. I've contemplated this problem both while sober and inebriated, and neither state of mind brought about the kind of results I wanted.
You could, for instance, have a sensor that tracks the distance between itself and the ground. When that distance changes by a factor of X that you could calculate, then it would alert you. The only problem is that this sensor would constantly have to send and receive signal. I do mean constantly. Not just for you, but for its own calculations. It's just the nature of being on terra firma: the angle constantly changes as you move, there is no such thing as truly level ground. your digital level apps have to have a fudge factor. Consider having a dynamic fudge factor and that is what you'd need for properly detecting gradient changes and drop-offs ahead of time.
My latest construdct, and you can thank a reasonably expensive bottle of Scotch for this: solve the battery drain issue by having some brackets strapped to your ankles so they'd be hidden by your pants, and in the v shape this creates, behind your feet is a bike generator only probably an 8th the size of a standard one. That and a limiting circuit would still be more bulky than I'd want to wear. The delivery system for power could come from the latest in wireless power charging technology. Then you could go ahead and burn electricity via ticks on the CPU clock required for all the math to keep track of gradient changes, and of course the most expensive, keeping that bottom sensor in an always-on state.
Anyway, being hands-free would have a lot of advantages if one could solve the size / scale problems related to managing this kind of device. If you're a lifer like me, remember being a kid and just running around with no cane? I didn't even have a cane for school until junior high. If we were in line, I just put my hand on the shoulder of the person in front of me. But running around and playing you did with no cane.
If you need to track the edge of a sidewalk, for instance, just walk with a foot on the grass, or a foot next to the grass. Stuff like that.
Oh, the real difference between the ground-facing sensors and the ones facing away from you is that the latter can turn on and off periodically and still capture enough to be meaningful. Including being able to keep track of the distance change and alert you. But the ground-facing sensor needs to constantly track on account of the graduated changes at your feet, and determine how far out in front of you it should be watching. Probably bassed on feedback from your feet as optical obstructions.
You can already feel the street curve up and then down again with just your feet. If you are a lifer, just remember being a kid before you had a cane and maybe just taking off or something, the sorts of thing that got you a good ol' fashioned beat-down. Your feet will act like your cane does now creating the sound for your echo location, and you can feel changes with your feet.
I will fully embrace a device that will allow me to be hands-free completely. Either that or drop dead wishing I'd lived long enough to see the day it came to market.

## Post 8 by LeoGuardian (You mean there is something outside of this room with my computer in it?) on Friday, 08-Jan-2016 15:37:12

I will say haptics is the way to go though. The motors are a lot smaller, it's like the motor that vibrates your cell phone.

## Post 9 by ADVOCATOR! (Finally getting on board!) on Friday, 08-Jan-2016 20:03:50

I think you have most of it. I desire hands-free, cause I'm using two hands. One to propel the motorized chair. One to swipe the cane. Arthritis is making that difficult, these days. Leo, the Lifer thing makes sense. I remember the days before canes, and the days when the cane broke. I felt blind, and that's about as true as it can be said.

## Post 10 by Smiling Sunshine (I've now got the bronze prolific poster award! now going for the silver award!) on Saturday, 09-Jan-2016 23:10:03

Man, I miss the days of being either ballsy or stupid enough to all out, run free as a friggin bird, without a cane. I wouldn't dream of doing that now. lol Hands free would be amazing. Hell, just care free and unencumbered in any way would rock. lol

## Post 11 by Voyager (I just keep on posting!) on Sunday, 10-Jan-2016 13:22:11

If you can, go to a beach and run along it without a cane. Very doable.

## Post 12 by LeoGuardian (You mean there is something outside of this room with my computer in it?) on Sunday, 10-Jan-2016 19:27:01

DG I still have the head scars to prove it lol it's just the nature of things, I
suspect.