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Blind Pod

A small device attached to a white cane that can pick up simple gestures such as double tap, swipe etc. and transmit those commands to a smartphone, which can then be processed to navigate it's functions like picking up an incoming call, read a new message, navigating the maps etc. by a visually impaired person.

Collaborative project with a wonderful team from Microsoft Research India.

Published Research Paper -

Media Coverage -

Adafruit blog on Paul's Workshop at The Things Conference, UK

Arduino at ACM UIST 2019

Hackster at ACM UIST 2019

ZD Net at NeurIPS 2018

MSR at NeurIPS and on Twitter

Satya Nadella in an interview with Indian media [5:45 - 7:30]

Financial Express

Microsoft AI Blog

Additional Links

https://shishirpatil.github.io/gesturepod/

Gesture Pod on a white cane

Blind Pod attached to a white cane. The movement of the cane is picked on by the (MCU)Motion Capture Unit embedded inside the Pod and is transmitted to the phone via Bluetooth.

Initial testings

Testings were conducted with the help of a dear friend in and around the office space with an initial prototype.

Dimensional study

After the proof of concept was established and the component study was done we moved on to component placement and pod design.

Internals

Layouting of the components were done very compactly to reduce size and weight. This was imperative as the overall weight of the cane had to be kept minimal with the attachment.

Pose for the cam.

Different colors and shapes were explored to make it more in sync with the cane designs. Also who doesn't love to pose for the camera. The pods were given a chance to shine in front of the camera.

Inspiration

Inspiration for the outer case design came from the Microsoft mouse which was elegant and simple. The design had to be kept simple enough so that it becomes easier for the users in their day to day life.

Latching mechanism

Different techniques were tried out to attach the pod to the cane with different degree of success. Then a hybrid system was developed with a clip and a tightener to make sure the pod did not fall off easily.

Latching mechanism - Design

A variety of models and designs were tried on for the pod before we had finalized on one definitive iteration.

Latching mechanism - Try outs

Each design was later 3D printed and tried on the cane. The design was such that it could be adjusted and attached tightly to any cane of different diameters.

Aesthetical interventions

An attempt was made to engrave the MSR logo into the case. This was also done to make sure the visually impaired user knew what side would face down as the orientation of the pod in the cane had to be correct for the MCU to pick up the correct input.

Video Gallery

Gallery

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