BlindSpot | Concept Smart White Cane

The white cane used by people with blindness is simple in its design yet very functional in its use. Yet the white cane is not able to detect high objects or obviously, identify people. Selene Chew, an industrial designer, came up with a solution in her honours thesis while  attending the National University of Singapore. Her solution is BlindSpot, basically a smart cane that has sonar and phone capabilities.

The BlindSpot first looks and functions like any other white cane. However it also comes with an earpiece and what I’m going to call a “smart device” in the handle. The smart device acts as a sonar and can detect objects that would normally be above a standard white cane’s detection height. A small sliding roller in the handle moves to guide the user away from the object.

Now with the public having their lives becoming more centered around smartphones, it makes sense to have products that can interact with them. The BlindSpot can also detect a friend’s smartphone that’s nearby and communicate this to the user via the earpiece. At this point the user can call their friend, be given directions to their friend, or ignore them. Once home, the smart device can be removed and then function as a standard phone. Here is a video of the BlindSpot and it’s potential features.