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Researchers Develop $60 Sonar Watch To Aid the Visually Impaired

Posted by samzenpus on from the daredevil-watch dept.

Taffykay writes Biology and computer science students and professors at Wake Forest University have teamed up to develop a device to assist the visually impaired. Following the principles of echolocation used by bats and moths, the interdisciplinary team has developed a watch-like unit that allows the wearer to navigate their environment using sonar. To make the project even more remarkable, all the parts and materials for the prototype cost less than $60.

30 comments

  1. Too Little, Too Late by __aaclcg7560 · · Score: 1

    I don't think a sonar watch will prevent the blind guy on my morning commute from whacking people and utility poles with his cane.

    1. Re:Too Little, Too Late by gstoddart · · Score: 1

      LOL ... you really think he doesn't know you're there?

      He's just messing with you.

      --
      Lost at C:>. Found at C.
    2. Re:Too Little, Too Late by jellomizer · · Score: 2

      Echo location isn't about removing the blind persons need for a cane, even with people who are good at it are still recommended to use a cane because things like grates, poles, or holes do not work well with echo location. As the sound passed threw it and back.
      What it does mean is with the aid of a cane and the watch they will be able to move more quickly with more assurance that there isn't something big going to be in the way.

      --
      If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
    3. Re:Too Little, Too Late by __aaclcg7560 · · Score: 1

      I make sure to stand behind a utility pole when he leaves the bus stop. He whacks people and utiltiy poles with equal pleasure.

  2. Hah, I had the same idea. by bigattichouse · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Mine's more like a flashlight, and vibrates based on distance. I have an idea for something better, but haven't had time to work on it.

    https://twitter.com/bigatticho...

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    meh
    1. Re:Hah, I had the same idea. by Huge_Euge · · Score: 1

      I whipped up a very similar prototype a few years ago. The vibration frequency was proportional to distance, and edges were highlighted with sharp jolts. The hope was that you could build a mental map of your surroundings by sweeping the sensor around. The ultimate downfall was the ultrasonic range finders. You need a narrow beam to be able to get any kind of reasonable spatial resolution, however, whenever you hit any sonicaly specular surface (i.e. a flat wall) at an angle that's not very close to perpendicular, the outgoing ping just bounces off to the side, instead of coming back to the detector, giving you a false negative. Which translated into running into walls that are 45 degrees to you. So until we get cheap, robust LIDAR sensors, the idea is mostly a waste of time.

  3. Nice, but seems we could have better. by DumbSwede · · Score: 0

    This looks promising for third world markets, but it seems we could/should have something much better here already. Why not some mini LIDAR or other depth ranging technology that sends info to an array of vibrators that encircle the chest, thus giving a crude 3D representation (even behind) instead of one fixed line that must be manually scanned?

    Why not send a 40 khz signal out, then down convert it to 5-10khz on return and feed it directly to the blind persons ears (I suggest this in addition to the scheme outlined above) to echo locate instead of having the blind having to constantly click with their tongues to do a crude echo locate as some do?

    My main point is there should be lots of ways more accurate and immersive than this, that while more expensive are still affordable, doable, and practical (especially considering what we already spend on other aids and help animals).

    We seem to have been on the verge of artificial eyes for decades. How about we dump representing 2D images and present Depth in place of Brightness. Crude 3D might be much better for navigating in the world as a blind person instead of crude 2D vision. This could even be switchable between 2D and 3D, or 2D in one eye and depth in the other.

    --
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    1. Re:Nice, but seems we could have better. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Also not mentioned in the article is that the sensor they chose has a range that's less than half a normal persons arm's length :)

    2. Re:Nice, but seems we could have better. by safetyinnumbers · · Score: 1

      Yes, I first heard of similar devices decades ago. Back in the 70s, I think, there were handheld units and I remember seeing a sonar system built into spectacle frames (I don't know if it was a practical design, not sure how it was powered).

      I think that the story here is that it's cheap and built into a watch, although I'd have thought that a handheld device would still be better for aiming as well as battery life.

  4. The leeches are going to be very upset. by 140Mandak262Jamuna · · Score: 0
    One of the biggest scams and the worst type of leeches are the companies that make these medically necessary equipment and sell to the government. Heard annoying commercials about scooters "no paperwork, we bill medicare directly, no cost to you" ads? They are the ones. They are still selling hearing aids at 2000$ apop. Granted, these are not run of the beats head phone or bose noise cancelling ear phones. But do they have to be three times the cost of a iPhone 6? Scooters at 6000$. A sonar for visually impaired people would be a gold mine to these companies. They would easily bilk us the taxpayers out of thousands of dollars for these devices.

    Making them non patentable by releasing it, and making them for 60$? Surely they will find a way to add something or patent some critical part and back in the business. Some of the heart devices run into half a million dollars. If they make the money in the free market competing with other companies it is one thing. It is an entirely different thing to lobby AMA and the congress and get a competition free ride.

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  5. Moths? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Moths do not use echolocation.

    Some of them are able to jam bat echolocation, but as far as I know the moths themselves do not echolocate.

  6. NC Research by Scottingham · · Score: 1

    Say what you will about NC politics (and, shit, there is a lot to be said), we pump out some top-notch research! Wake Forest, Duke, UNC-Chapel Hill, NC State seem to continually be in the science section headlines for some new something or other.

    It's also a shame that the NCAA bullshit is putting a cloud over all the hard working researchers at UNC.

    1. Re:NC Research by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Do you mind if I shove the throbbing, bulbous head of my cock up your ass?

    2. Re:NC Research by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      This project is an off the shelf arduino project with a cheapo ultrasonic sensor (HRC-S04) that has a real-world usable sensing range of about 18 inches. All sloppily taped around a watch.

        Not disputing what you said in general, but this project isn't a great example. Unless you think blind people want to navigate around like roombas...bumping into walls until their wrist stops vibrating.

      They really should have gone a few more iterations in their design/test phase before building a prototype and bragging about it.

    3. Re:NC Research by Scottingham · · Score: 1

      Hah, thanks for the info...I didn't even RTFA ;-) Wake Forest is doing some incredible artificial organ research though.

    4. Re:NC Research by bigattichouse · · Score: 1

      I know the part well.. you actually get about 5 meters fairly accurately... but soft materials and echos can mess up the flight time sensing.

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      meh
    5. Re:NC Research by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Well, technically, yes, the range is longer than 18 inches, but the "beam angle" is wide, so the longer range isn't practically usable in the environments they probably want this to work in.

    6. Re:NC Research by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That probably depends on just how wide the 'beam angle' is. An exceptionally narrow beam wouldn't be as useful because you'd lose any 'peripheral vision'. An exceptionally wide beam would give you too much 'noise' from objects that aren't actually in or near your current path. Somewhere in between, you get an alert that something is near your path far away, but it clears as you get closer, and the 'beam' no longer sweeps that far to the side.

      Regardless, they're using an off the shelf component as part of an early prototype. Once they've got the software component working as expected with that, they can start working on a replacement component that more precisely fits their particular use case.

  7. Cheap? by ArcadeMan · · Score: 1

    all the parts and materials for the prototype cost less than $60.

    And something was 3D-printed, right? Or was it $60 in Bitcoins? ... Arduino?

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    1. Re:Cheap? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      yep.
      t is powered by an Arduino Lilypad microprocessor, runs JAVA-like code written by Janes, and is combined with the sonar distance sensors (HRC-S04) and two cellphone vibrating motors.

  8. 60 bucks is damned expensive by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The picture looks like an alibaba ultrasonic sensor that goes for $1.50 and a microcontroller board that goes for another $5. Total $6.50, free shipping worldwide.

  9. Something like it already on KickStarter by cmeans · · Score: 1

    https://www.kickstarter.com/pr...

    Though it's not got much support as yet (I am a backer).

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    1. Re:Something like it already on KickStarter by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      How did you hear of it?

      Do you know anything more than the info on the page?

    2. Re:Something like it already on KickStarter by cmeans · · Score: 1

      I just happened to see it listed as a new project, and as I've done Audio Description in the past, it peaked my interest. Saddened that it hasn't garnered much support but maybe it's because others don't have confidence in the tech/implementation.

      --
      Give a hand, not a hand-out.
  10. a bit ironic to call it a "watch" by sonciwind · · Score: 2

    That's all I've got to say.

  11. parts=$60, retail price = $600 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Typically, the selling price of small electronics is 10x the parts cost, depending on the amount of assembly, machining, etc. needed. Still, $500 price range isn't bad.

    There's quite a lot of sonar devices for the visually impaired already available, many are integrated with a cane. It's not clear that this is the hard part of the job.
    Consider some common situations: walking down a crowded sidewalk. Crossing a street.

    And even more clever and generally applicable sensor system was exhibited at the International Science and Engineering Fair last year in Los Angeles. It was a haptic vest with numerous sensors (sonar) coupled to small vibrators. A target in the distance to the left would result in small amplitude vibrations in that same direction, as the target gets closer, the amplitude increases.

    Users were able to avoid moving blockades with very little training quite well.

  12. Re:Really, really lame. by pixelpusher220 · · Score: 1

    Noisy environments would render a clicker pretty useless.

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  13. Waiting for Apple's version by BKDotCom · · Score: 1

    this isn't news until Apple reveals a $399 version.

    then zomg! gotta have!