Innovation of the week: The smart cane

Navigating the world while blind just got a little easier, said Liz Stinson at Wired. Students at Birmingham City University have developed a camera-equipped "smart cane," dubbed the XploR, that includes GPS and facial recognition software to help the blind recognize people as they approach.

The cane's software pulls in photos from Gmail and other sites to identify people "from up to 32 feet away"; the person's name and location are then fed to the user's Bluetooth-enabled earpiece. The cane's camera, just below the handle, scans "as much of the user's environment as possible" with its 270-degree lens, and helps the user avoid obstacles and navigate busy streets. The XploR is currently in the prototype phase, but the researchers are looking for investors with the aim of turning it into a commercial product.

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