Juan Manuel Bustamante, a student at Colegio Industrial N° 4 in Río Gallegos, Argentina, has designed shoes with ultrasonic sensors to help the blind and people with reduced visibility.
The device, which the inventor has called the Duspavoni, emits vibrations after measuring the distance between the user and the objects around them. It could thus replace the conventional cane.
Bustamante explained that the prototype detects objects made from any material and the intensity level of the vibrations determines the degree of proximity of the object.
“I have a friend with reduced visibility and she told me that between 10 and 25 people often reject the cane. So I decided to create a more discreet device that would help affected people to feel more comfortable, and that was how the shoe came about, as everyone wears them and they’re used all day,” explained the student.
How does it work?
The device is placed in the soles of the shoes and has three ultrasonic sensors: one in the front, one to the side and one in the rear. These sensors send out waves that bounce off the objects in question so as to determine their proximity to the user.
Duspavoni (Dispositivos Ultrasonicos Para No Videntes, Ultrasonic Devices for People with Reduced Visibility) detects any object within a 25 centimeter radius of the shoe – including people, doors, beams, animals, cars, beds and trees – made from anything – plastic, cement, metal, marble, wood, cloth and glass.
The shoe runs on batteries and can be charged by a USB cable. “It takes almost five hours to charge it fully and it will then last three or four days,” Juan Manuel Bustamante said.
