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Sighted wheelchair expected to facilitate navigation for visually-impaired individuals
Thursday, 19 May 2011 16:32

Sighted wheelchair expected to facilitate navigation for visually-impaired individualsElderly, visually-impared individuals and their caregivers may be pleased to learn about a newly created wheelchair that may improve patients' quality of life. The tool, which features a joystick for steering and a laser scanner, has the ability to sense its environment and transmit this information to users. This may help alert them to the presence of opening doors or oncoming people.

The technology was developed by a team of researchers at the Lulea University of Technology in Sweden. The first test of their "sighted" wheelchair was carried out in front of an audience at the school's Department of Computer Science, Electrical and Space Engineering.

"This may be an important aid for the visually impaired who are wheelchair users," said Kalevi Hyyppa, the professor who led the study. "Many have already been in touch with me and have asked if they can come for a test drive."

He has given many visually-impaired individuals the opportunity to experience the tool firsthand in one of the school's many corridors, where obstacles in the form of doors and people are common. One user said that riding in the wheelchair was like using a white cane, and that it allowed him to avoid various collisions as he made his way through the halls.
 

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