In addition to an array of other useful features, this futuristic mobility-aiding cane contains a camera and facial recognition software to help the visually impaired pick friendly faces out of the crowd.

The cane is a widely-recognized and frequently-used staple for those who cannot see well or at all, and thus an idea vessel to enhance with GPS and other computer-driven aids. The device is being designed by Waheed Rafiq, Steve Adigbo, and Richard Howlett, researchers at Birmingham City University in the United Kingdom, and still just a prototype at this point.

In terms of face-seeing software: the built-in camera takes continuous images, searches for faces, then scans them against a database tied to your social profiles or other uploaded images (you can also use the cane itself to take new photos for the database). When a match is found, the user is notified via bone-conduction earpiece designed to cut down on auditory distractions.

The long-term vision is a commercial version but that is still a ways off. The goal is also to include only what is necessary in the cane, perhaps primarily hardware, leaving the heavy lifting to modular software components or third-party devices already in hand (like mobile phones). Other smart canes are also in development, some being marketed for as little as $40, but with far fewer features.

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This dynamic braille-screened smartwatch dynamically raises points (or: dots) above its surface, allowing the blind to read text messages or translate webpages right on their wrists.

Sleekly designed like other hot smartwatches on the market, the Dot can show up to four characters at a time at customizable speeds, representing a dramatic change from clunky USB-plugged computer adapters and potentially distracting text-to-voice translators.

The Dot is just 1/20th of the size of these traditional terminals and 1/10th of the cost. A new type of actuator makes it possible to present braille with much less technological baggage (and cost). Oh, and it tells the time too.

Dots, the South Korean startup behind the device founded by four design and technology students, aims to release this gadget for just a few hundred dollars, much cheaper than traditional braille conversion devices and of course much more portable as well. “Until now, if you got a message on iOS from your girlfriend, for example, you had to listen to Siri read it to you in that voice, which is impersonal. Wouldn’t you rather read it yourself and hear your girlfriend’s voice saying it in your head?”

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Beyond braille, this device can output raised patterns, maps, graphics and more, all for the visually impaired using liquid rather than mechanical parts for a more robust machine and fluid experience.

Liquid bubbles raise up on the surface of the device while complimentary software is able to convert various file formats for easy compatibility, accepting files wirelessly or via USB. Blitab Technology boasts of its creation: “This is revolutionary and we want to solve a great issue, and that’s the literacy of blind people. The technology is quite scalable so we can output images and put any tactile relief representation like maps and graphics, such as geometric figures, in order to serve as an educational tool for blind people.”

Current market competitors (like the one shown above) generate only a single line of braille at a time and cannot create more complex shapes – they also cost up to three times as much and thus serve only small niche markets that can afford them.

“We think blind people should be included in the digital era in which we live, with all of the smartphones and tablets, but also ensure that they have a proper way to do everything that sighted people do, like web browsing, reading books and downloading books. Only 1% of all books worldwide are available in printed braille, as it’s very expensive to produce printed braille. Some people are even saying that braille is decreasing among blind people but we want to get to the point where we can actually change this.”

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Navigating an urban landscape is difficult enough, but doing it without the benefit of sight is confusing and can be dangerous. Microsoft teamed up with research group Future Cities Catapult to create a headset that creates a multi-layered soundscape to help those with visual impairments get around. The Cities Unlocked project uses a smartphone and bone conduction sound to provide information about the wearer’s surroundings.

The behind-the-head headset features two small nodes that fit just in front of each ear to transmit sound through the wearer’s bones. This type of sound delivery is more efficient than sounds that travel through the air, and the technology allows the wearer to hear both the headset’s cues and the ambient noises around them.

Each headset is custom made using Microsoft’s Kinect camera. The camera scans the wearer’s head to determine the precise location of the wearer’s ear canals. The nodes are designed to fit in front of the ear canals to bypass the eardrums altogether. This precise positioning allows the headset to create noises that seem to come from a certain direction. If a wearer is headed in the wrong direction, the headset can create a sound coming from the correct direction which cues the wearer to turn that way.

The headset can name nearby landmarks, buildings, and businesses to help the wearer keep their bearings. It is connected to a smartphone via Bluetooth and relies on information from location and navigation services. Before setting out, a wearer can program in a route and the headset will guide them to the location using verbal directions and sound cues.

Part of the project’s vision is to place information beacons in strategic locations throughout urban areas. These beacons would provide valuable information about transportation schedules and other helpful mobility tips.

The initiative is aimed not only at people who are commuting to and from work; it is meant to help tourists and those who are new to a city. Getting around a new city with sight loss is a huge and scary undertaking, but the help provided by the Cities Unlocked project could help visually impaired people attain a whole new level of confidence and independence.

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Navigation helping devices for the visually impaired span all levels of technology, affordability and feasibility. The Blind Guider concept from designers Jang Cheng, Hui-Chuan Ma, Chih-Hao Wang and Yin-Kai Li is high on functionality and technology, but scores a little lower on the scale of possibility. The system consists of guide bricks with RFID chips embedded which communicate with sensors on the bottom of the guide cane.

When a visually impaired person is walking along a sidewalk and approaches one of the guide bricks, the RFID tag inside the brick interacts with the guide cane to identify the street on which the walker stands. The information is sent to the wireless earpiece worn by the user, telling that person exactly where they are. The user can then move the cane around to other parts of the guide brick in order to navigate to their destination.

When the cane is not in use, the Bluetooth earpiece fits neatly into the top of the cane. The concept definitely seems useful, but in order for the system to be put into place it would have to be installed in a widespread area, such as an entire city. The infrastructure changes required to implement the Blind Guider system would be expensive and, unfortunately, probably deemed an unsuitable public works project. As a concept meant to help people, however, the Blind Guider is about as creative as it gets.

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