WHITE CANE: REDESIGNED | AnjaliBaliga

ENVI; A WHITE CANE REDESIGNED

Overview: A re-designed white cane that not only helps avoid obstacles but also used motor technology to send vibration signals and give directions.

Goal: To help visually impaired and blind people feel confident and independent traveling alone to new unfamiliar environments

Tools: Procreate, Solidworks, Keyshot

Research

1/3

Ideation Sketches

These Ideation sketches explore not only canes but also different ways to help with navigation.

I looked into tactile block maps as visually impaired people rely on memory for navigation.

Other things I thought would be helpful were large machines placed around the city as a 'checkpoint.' Visually impaired people would be able to identify their location and how to get to their next destination.

I looked further into the designs below

An interesting thing I learned during research is that people who have guide dogs find the slight pull and guidance comforting. I wanted to figure out a way to mimic that comforting pull of guidance without the need for a guide dog as that is a huge responsibility.

I was looking into city-wide solutions such as a track that could be installed for which a cane could magnetically attach and guide them along the sidewalk. Instead of destroying already built sidewalks, I was thinking this could be all done within a cane.

How could a cane give the sense of guidance without actually pulling the user? I was looking into motors and the vibration signals they could send to give a sense of direction (whether to turn left or right when walking).