White canes have always been a good helper for visually impaired people to travel, helping them identify whether there are obstacles on the road and increasing the safety of travel.
Some post-secondary college students spent a year developing an intelligent walking stick "iStick" for the visually impaired. The cane helps the visually impaired to distinguish more than 100 obstacles and can instantly determine the slope of the road.
The products are developed by the students of the Department of Computer and Electronic Engineering and the Department of Health Care. Combining the knowledge of the two can more comprehensively meet the actual needs of the visually impaired.
One of the trial users, the visually impaired May, believes that the "iStick" is very useful, especially after identifying obstacles with AI, the function of reading out with voice can help visually impaired people to judge the actual situation of the road and reduce the occurrence of dangerous situations.
The smart walking stick "iStick" was jointly developed by students from the Department of Computer and Electronic Engineering and Healthcare of the Hong Kong Institute of Vocational Education (IVE), and won the first runner-up in the "Post-secondary Education Category" in the "Young Tech Talents Exhibition and Competition 2021" and "CLP Best Innovation Award".
(Photo courtesy of IVE)
The smart walking stick "iStick" was jointly developed by students from the Department of Computer and Electronic Engineering and Healthcare of the Hong Kong Institute of Vocational Education (IVE), and won the first runner-up in the "Post-secondary Education Category" in the "Young Tech Talents Exhibition and Competition 2021" and "CLP Best Innovation Award".
The design uses technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), the Internet of Things and sensor applications, and is accompanied by a newly developed mobile app.
The appearance of the "iStick" is the same as that of an ordinary white cane, and it can be used for 8 hours after charging.
However, many technological elements have been added to the design, including a camera lens on the front, a radar sensor on the bottom, a temperature and humidity sensor, and an optical sensor, so that the "iStick" has more functions.
It took the research team a year to successfully develop the "iStick".
The cane can recognize more than 100 types of obstacles ahead, such as chairs, cardboard boxes, trash cans and tables, through the built-in device.
When the system recognizes an obstacle, it will read out the type of obstacle in Cantonese and remind the visually impaired to pay attention.
(Photo courtesy of IVE)
The opportunity for the development of "iStick" came from Zhang Jingfu, who was studying in the Department of Healthcare.
She often participated in volunteer activities in the past and found it difficult for visually impaired people to travel. "Walking up the mountain with them, because there are unknown obstacles in front, and it may be a ramp and stairs, for safety, they have to spend more time and effort."
These experiences inspired Zhang Jingfu and IVE students from the Department of Computer and Electronic Engineering to develop "iStick" through interdisciplinary collaboration, hoping to help visually impaired people travel safely.
The intelligent guide stick combines a variety of branches and artificial intelligence to help identify obstacles
Chen Kuang, a computer and electronic engineering student, is one of those involved in the research and development.
He said it took the research team a year to successfully develop the "iStick".
At present, the cane can recognize more than 100 types of obstacles in front of it through its built-in device, such as chairs, cardboard boxes, trash cans and tables.
When the system recognizes an obstacle, it will read out the type of obstacle in Cantonese and remind the visually impaired to pay attention.
When the visually impaired are traveling, they can also know the weather in real time through temperature and humidity sensors. Optical sensors help measure pulse rate and blood oxygen concentration, allowing them to better understand their physical condition.
In order to prevent the visually impaired from accidentally falling, the walking stick is equipped with a fall detection function. When the smart walking stick falls on the ground, it will instantly emit a sound and a warning light, prompting passers-by to lend a helping hand, and can also make the visually impaired. The person judges the direction of the cane by voice and picks it up by himself.
(Photo courtesy of IVE)
When the cane falls to the ground, it will make an audible reminder
In addition, "iStick" can detect the slope of the road ahead. This function is connected to the indicator set at the position of the handrail of the walking stick, which can rotate in real time according to the slope of the road detected by the radar sensor. You need to press the indicator with your finger to know whether the road ahead is up or down and the corresponding slope.
In order to prevent the visually impaired from accidentally falling, the walking stick is equipped with a fall detection function. When the smart walking stick falls on the ground, it will instantly emit a sound and a warning light, prompting passers-by to lend a helping hand, and can also make the visually impaired. The person judges the direction of the cane by voice and picks it up by himself.
In addition to hardware, iStick also develops mobile applications for visually impaired people and their caregivers through the use of IoT technology.
The user only needs to pair the cane with the mobile phone, and the corresponding data will appear in the app synchronously. The caregiver can also check the various statuses of the visually impaired through the mobile phone.
(Photo courtesy of IVE)
With APP to store various data of the visually impaired
Another computer and electronic engineering student, Yan Baijian, described the "iStick" as the eyes of the visually impaired, which can quickly, accurately and flexibly assist them in judging different situations.
During the research, they continued to give the AI different training, such as whether it could successfully identify objects under different light levels.
In addition to hardware, "iStick" also develops mobile applications for visually impaired people and their caregivers through the use of IoT technology.
The user only needs to pair the stick with the mobile phone, and the corresponding data will be synchronized in the app. The caregiver can also check various statuses of the visually impaired person through the mobile phone, such as real-time location, pulse rate and blood oxygen concentration and other data.
The system can also receive information about the drop and recovery of the "iStick" for caregivers to provide remote support.
May (left), a visually impaired person, is a trial user of the "iStick". She believes that walking sticks are very practical and can help visually impaired people travel.
May pointed out that the most fearful thing for visually impaired people to go out is to encounter unexpected obstacles, such as fences, garbage and debris.
An environment that is too loud also prevents her from judging whether she is in a safe place by listening to the sounds of cars, traffic lights and people.
(Photo courtesy of IVE)
The visually impaired May is a trial user of the "iStick". She believes that the walking stick is very practical and can help the visually impaired to travel.
May pointed out that the most fearful thing for visually impaired people to go out is to encounter unexpected obstacles, such as fences, garbage and debris.
An environment that is too loud also prevents her from judging whether she is in a safe place by listening to the sounds of cars, traffic lights and people.
The "iStick" can notify the obstacles ahead and indicators to help determine the height and slope of the ground through voice, allowing them to grasp the road conditions in advance and reduce the occurrence of dangerous situations.
The "iStick" R&D team said that it will continue to optimize the cane, and at the same time, through the Department of Health Care, more visually impaired people are invited to try it out, so that they can make improvements to better meet the actual needs of users.
The R&D team is also exploring opportunities for cooperation with groups that support the visually impaired, hoping to allow more visually impaired people to try the "iStick".
(Photo courtesy of IVE)
The "iStick" R&D team said that it will continue to optimize the cane, such as updating the function of the mobile phone application, so that the program can view and manage the data of multiple "iStick"; it plans to add more voice broadcast languages, such as English, Mandarin, and even dialects etc., take care of the needs of different users and train AI to identify more types of obstacles, and invite more visually impaired people to try it out through the Department of Health Care, and let them make improvements after giving their opinions, hoping to be more suitable for users actual needs.
The R&D team is also exploring cooperation opportunities with groups that support the visually impaired, hoping to allow more visually impaired people to try the "iStick".
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