Mesa Imaging Ag

Heptagon Micro Optics Pte. Ltd.

Markus Riesch

Thierry Oggier

Vincent Hayward

Roger Gassert

Yeongmi Kim

Mathias Deschler

Cornelia Prott

Stefan Beat Schneller

Stefan Schneller

The invention describes an electronic travel aid (ETA) for blind and visually impaired persons implemented in a detachable handle of a white cane. The device enhances the functionality of the white cane giving the user more detailed information about the environment within a defined corridor of interest in front of the user with an extended range of a few meters up to 10 m. It provides a reliable warning if there is a risk of collision with obstacles including those at trunk or head height, which are not recognized by a conventional white cane. Additional sensors are integrated to delimit the defined corridor during the cane sweeping thereby reducing the amount of information that is transmitted to the user via the tactile interface. Alternatively, the device can be used independently from the cane as an object recognition and orientation aid.

White cane with integrated electronic travel aid using 3D TOF sensor

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Zurich, Switzerland

Markus Riesch