Tag Archives: walking stick

Smart cane automatically adjusts to your walking terrain

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According to the World Health Organization, falls, specifically for senior citizens, is a major public health problem. There are a lot who use canes and other walking aids but there are also some who prefer not to use any since they’re inconvenient at times or because of their pride. But we’re also seeing some aids that have become smarter and can adjust to the needs of those that need these tools to move around.

Designer: Claire Ko

Halo is one such tool that may appeal to those who are still hesitant to use canes because of their limitations. This one is a smart cane where you can adjust your smartphone so it can adjust its height automatically. It can adjust the height of the cane depending on the terrain that you’re walking on. This includes walking up and down the stairs, which is one of the most difficult daily tasks that senior citizens and other people with walking difficulties experience.

The Halo Smart Cane provides control to those using it as you are not limited to just the standard height of most canes. It also provides stability to the user as it will not let you slop or stumble even when it changes its height based on what the smartphone and the app detects. Once you attach your phone, there is a button on the cane that switches to automatic mode.

The height-adjustment mechanism included in the cane is still patent-pending but on paper, it is a pretty useful tool for those who need better assistance while walking. There isn’t a lot of detailed information yet on the materials used and the mechanism involved probably because of the ongoing patent application.

The post Smart cane automatically adjusts to your walking terrain first appeared on Yanko Design.

‘Smart Cane’ for Senior Citizens comes with bone-conducting earphones and object-detecting sensors

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Designed to help augment an elderly user’s hearing, sight, and situational awareness, the Caregiver is a smart cane that leverages sensor-based technologies to make life infinitely better for senior citizens and the specially abled.

If the biggest purpose of technology was to help make lives better, the Caregiver smart cane is proof that the same technology should serve the needs of people beyond the purview of the ‘common user’. While bone-conducting hearing and camera-based smart navigation have been available to us ‘regular folk’ for decades now, the Caregiver leverages the technology to help enrich the lives of the elderly. The smart cane comes with its own built-in GPS tracker, radar-imaging cameras, and bone-conducting earpieces to help its users navigate effectively and hear well. When not in use, the Caregiver docks in its wireless charging base that helps replenish its batteries.

Designer: Ma Tianyu

Before I get into why I think the Caregiver is such a brilliant idea, let’s just get its features out of the way. Unlike archaic-looking walking canes, the Caregiver is a pretty slick, state-of-the-art walking device with a minimal futuristic design language. It has a telescopic heigh-adjusting mechanism for people of different heights, and sports a notification/visbility light on the front that glows ambiently to let others know of the elderly person’s presence… although that’s barely scratching the surface.

One of Caregiver’s most impressive features is its built-in set of earphones that help augment the hearing of its users. The bone-conducting earpieces sit within a charging compartment built into the Caregiver’s design, and can be accessed by simply opening the lid and taking them out. Bone conducting earphones work exceptionally well for people with reduced hearing because the earphones deliver audio directly to the auditory nerve via your skull-bone rather than relying on your eardrum. Given that hearing can deteriorate with age, bone-conducting tech provides the perfect alternative, allowing wearers to listen in on the world around them… albeit with stylish earpieces instead of those archaic-looking hearing aids.

Another pretty nifty accessibility feature is the Caregiver’s ‘smart eye’, a series of radar and imaging sensors located around the shaft of the cane that run object detection algorithms to help people navigate safely. The cane can sense when there’s an object in its path, and uses earphone notifications to alert the user of the presence of things that they may no have noticed – either objects out of their PoV or things in front of them that can’t be seen because of deteriorating eyesight. Either way, the earphones let you know of the presence of an object as well as its general location, so the user is warned.

A sufficiently tech-driven device, the Caregiver comes with its own charging dock that wirelessly juices its battery, eliminating the need for struggling with charging cables, ports, and a host of wires/dongles.

The Caregiver cane also comes with its own companion app that can be used by guardians/assistants/caretakers to track the elderly. The stick itself has a GPS sensor built in that helps track the cane, and each cane even registers the heartbeat of the user by detecting their pulse through both the cane as well as the earpieces.

What’s truly so phenomenal about the Caregiver is its ability to make tech accessible without being daunting. Users don’t need to learn new experiences or unlearn past ones to understand how to use the cane. It’s fairly natural and intuitive in its design, and this makes adopting the new technology much easier for elderly people, instead of having them struggle with a new learning curve at that age.

The post ‘Smart Cane’ for Senior Citizens comes with bone-conducting earphones and object-detecting sensors first appeared on Yanko Design.

This smart walking-stick uses real-time image-recognition to help the visually impaired ‘see’

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The Sense Five may look like a regular walking stick, but it’s to walking stick what the smartwatch is to mechanical timepieces. With smart sensors integrated into its handle, the Sense Five has its way of communicating with its user, allowing them to be aware of what’s around them. It all starts with the way the Sense Five is shaped. Its unique ‘7’ shaped format comes with a reason, helping the visually impaired easily navigate their surroundings. The stick’s angled design allows its user to instinctively hold it the right way. The handle is held horizontally, and the stick naturally leans forward, allowing the user to tap their surroundings as they navigate through spaces. A camera on the front actively captures images, recognizing objects and obstacles, while a simple switch allows you to toggle a torch to use the stick at night. When the camera identifies something worth alerting the user about, it communicates with the user through the handle.

The handle has to be by far one of my favorite details. It’s elegant, slim, and comes with a unique dynamic surface that ‘flares up’ on command, with an almost animal-like instinct. When the camera notices an obstacle near the user, the handle’s 3D surface comes to life, alerting the user. The tactile response is incredibly easy to identify (especially given that the user’s palms are perpetually in contact with the handle), and is much more effective than an audio cue, which could get missed in a noisy environment or could be disturbing in a quiet one. The way the handle communicates with the user is incredibly stealthy, effective, and almost reptilian. The handle, through its dynamic skin, can even communicate a low-battery status to the user, prompting them to charge the Sense Five via a standard USB-C port on the back.

However, the Sense Five isn’t just a walking stick for its owner. It can help communicate the user’s presence to others around them. The torchlight on the front is accompanied by a red taillight on the back that helps people spot the stick and user in low-light settings. Incredibly effective at night (especially when you need to cross the road), the torch and taillight are yet another example of features that go above and beyond to keep the visually impaired user safe and sound as they navigate through life.

Designer: Werteloberfell

Walking cane by day, resting stool when needed!

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This nifty walking stick can turn into a stool when you need! The Tri-cane considers the needs of the person using it, offering more than just support. The cane’s innovative design allows the handle to open up into a seat, while the cane itself comes with three collapsible legs that open outwards, turning it into a tripod-stool.

Designer: Jordan Lau Tsz Chun

“Current solutions available are mainly generic walking-cane-and-chair hybrids that are often bulky and unwieldy. They also expose too much of the users’ dependence on an object for assistance. Feeling stigmatized, many are discouraged to use them in public. As an alternative solution, Tri Cane is an assistive product that easily disguises as a lifestyle item due to its slim and understated appearance,” Jordan told Yanko Design.

The (Standing) Walking Stick

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A walking stick defeats the purpose if you’re constantly having to bend over to pick it up! Designed with this in mind, the KEVDIA stick is Michael Dimou’s take on the object that stands on its own so users need not worry about where to lean it.

Made using durable yet lightweight Kevlar-49 and lead at the bottom, it’s been tested to not only self-balance but to ensure that the center of gravity is at the lowest point of the stick. This results in more solid placement of the tip when walking, thereby enhancing stability and confidence in the user. Even if it’s dropped, it will pop back up, making it easier for the user to regain control and continue on whether they’re on a hike or the sidewalk.

Designer: Michael Dimou

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A walking (joy)stick for the blind!

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Design for so many people is such a visual medium, one must ask oneself… If you remove sight from the design experience, does it still remain a good product? I find designing for the visually impaired quite an interesting domain, because they experience products in a way we don’t, or more importantly, cant. Try doing whatever it is you’re doing right now (eating a meal, perhaps) with your eyes closed. It’s a completely different experience that most people may not be comfortable with.

The Cloudandco Smart Cane by Brandon and Max takes on the challenge of designing a product with an experience that is far from visual. The ergonomic smart cane comes as just a joystick handle with an automatic telescoping stick that shoots out when switched on. However, the walking stick doesn’t stop there. It connects to an app on the smartphone, actually guiding the user to destinations they set. The Smart Cane can give off vibration and audio feedback, guiding its user to their destination. Users can toggle through destinations using a button on the top. There’s even a braille panel on the back that can communicate with the user.

The Smart Cane takes its non-visual experience further by allowing the users to charge it wirelessly. Instead of having them fiddle with ports and cables, the Smart Cane can just be placed on its charging pad and it automatically gets charged for when it’s required next!

Designers: Brandon Cooke & Max Dahl

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A walking (joy)stick for the blind!

Posted on by

cloudandco_cane_1

Design for so many people is such a visual medium, one must ask oneself… If you remove sight from the design experience, does it still remain a good product? I find designing for the visually impaired quite an interesting domain, because they experience products in a way we don’t, or more importantly, cant. Try doing whatever it is you’re doing right now (eating a meal, perhaps) with your eyes closed. It’s a completely different experience that most people may not be comfortable with.

The Cloudandco Smart Cane by Brandon and Max takes on the challenge of designing a product with an experience that is far from visual. The ergonomic smart cane comes as just a joystick handle with an automatic telescoping stick that shoots out when switched on. However, the walking stick doesn’t stop there. It connects to an app on the smartphone, actually guiding the user to destinations they set. The Smart Cane can give off vibration and audio feedback, guiding its user to their destination. Users can toggle through destinations using a button on the top. There’s even a braille panel on the back that can communicate with the user.

The Smart Cane takes its non-visual experience further by allowing the users to charge it wirelessly. Instead of having them fiddle with ports and cables, the Smart Cane can just be placed on its charging pad and it automatically gets charged for when it’s required next!

Designers: Brandon Cooke & Max Dahl

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The walking stick gets a minimal makeover!

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There’s one aesthetic style that binds most products that are made for the elderly. You’ll notice that all products one associates with the aged, have a vintage style. Walking sticks are seldom made to look minimal or contemporary. Rocking chairs too. You’ll seldom find a pair of futuristic looking bi-focals.

Studio Shiro challenges convention with the ENEA walking stick. Made out of 3D printing, the stick has a contemporary air that makes a style statement, rather than looking like a disability device from a bygone era. The design redefines functionality while celebrating minimalism. It features a 3-axis handle that one can grip firmly (while making sure it doesn’t slip out of your grip). The handle’s 3 pronged design even allows it to be rested vertically on the floor. To make things more interesting, the load-bearing shaft of the stick features an extra projection that allows the stick to balance on the side of desks or counter-tops in a fashion that’s convenient and fun both at the same time.

To keep the stick as light as, if not lighter than its wooden or metal-pipe contemporaries (or should I say ancestors), the ENEA is made using a stress-bearing, porous inner structure, much like the inside of our bones. To achieve this unique construction, the ENEA is printed from top to bottom via 3D printing.

Designer: Shiro Studio

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The Infrared Walking Cane

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Simply called the Safe Stick, this revolutionary walking stick for sight-impaired individuals goes beyond the limitations of traditional designs, utilizing a network of checkpoints at landmarks like bus stops and intersections to help users navigate safely and more effectively. The design relies on RIAS (Remote Infrared Auditory Signage) technology installed at the landmarks that communicate with the walking stick and signal an auditory message to the user with details on their location as they approach a checkpoint. For nighttime use, a bright red LED flasher gives additional safety by notifying drivers of the user’s location.

Designer: Parasuraman Kannan

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A Cane That Helps Itself Stay Up Too

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One major concern for cane users is where exactly they’ll be able to rest their can when not using it. Whether they’re sitting, laying down, in the kitchen or outside, it’s important that it always be handy. Thanks to its manual opening tripod attachment, the Tricane ensures that the walking aid is always within reach and won’t fall to the ground. In anodized aluminum, it’s just as lightweight, compact and good-looking as a classic cane.

Designer: Ryan Kirkpatrick

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(A Cane That Helps Itself Stay Up Too was originally posted on Yanko Design)

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