If you ever wondered, yes, people can use echolocation to orientate themselves in space. It's how some blind people "see". Here are some videos of how it works (1, 2). However, using this "tool" can sometimes become very challenging.
A mobile app for blind people that "clicks", navigates and help you get around faster and safer.
Do blind people use smartphones? Yes, they use them and they should be empowered to do it even more since it can help them a lot. Here is a video of how they do it.
the environment is sometimes too loud for clicks to be an effective way of orientating
not everybody can perform a good "click"
if you are blind and you are eating something, you cannot produce clicks and it's making it more difficult to walk
the walking cane is not going to warn you about a tree branch in front of you
blind people with psychological or other disorders sometimes cannot produce clicks
clicking is sometimes not the best way of orientation (theatre, church)
current apps are not technologically-advanced
if developed enough, this app could completely replace the blindsman cane
A person starts the app by voice order. The "clicks" start and accommodate to the surroundings - become louder/quieter depending on the environment. The sound of the click (the frequency, wavelength) can also change depending on the environment or the user preferences. If the user is going to church, it can put headphones and turn the silent mode ON. Clicking continues on frequencies that cannot be heard, but the smartphone can read them.
The clicks are used to scan the surroundings by the mobile-phone itself which, along with camera, create AI-derived visual representation of the space around it and serve as a super-precise orientating tool for blind people. The app can be used solely to produce the clicking sound (then the user orientates by himself), or it can be used as a navigation tool through the mobile-phonepeaker or headphones (literally describing what's around you).
Navigation and saved routes
The app could also record your walk, save it as a GPS route and give you navigation when you want to use it the next time ("Hey Siri, navigate me to the supermarket."). By using camera to record your routes, you could even navigate yourself to a single product on a specific shelf.
You could feel safe because you would be tracked eve time you use the app. That way your close ones can get notified on your location and possible issues.
jnikola Jul 20, 2022
