Virtual Laser Cane for the Blind

UCSC is developing a prototype of the "virtual white cane" that combines a laser, camera and computer technology to give a blind person feedback about features such as stairs and curbs.

A “virtual white cane” is one of several prototype tools for the visually impaired developed by Roberto Manduchi, an assistant professor of computer engineering, and his students. Manduchi’s high-tech alternative is a laser-based range-sensing device about the size of a flashlight. A laser, much like the one in an ordinary laser pointer, is combined with a digital camera and a computer processor that analyzes and integrates spatial information as the user moves the device back and forth over a scene. The user receives feedback about the scene in the form of audio signals “the pitch corresponds to distance, and there are also special sounds to indicate features such as a curb, step, or drop-off,” Manduchi said.

Manduchi’s system not only registers complicated environmental features, but includes an on-board processor with algorithms that rapidly and accurately translate raw range data in a fashion that can be quickly and easily recognized by the user. In the recently tested prototype, sound is generated by an accompanying computer, with pitch varying with distance to the obstacle. Future versions are also being designed with a tactile interface, using signals called haptic primitives (e.g. small electrical pulses felt by the user).

Source: UC Santa Cruz