‘Seeing-eye’ cane uses face-recognition technology

A “smart” cane that enables the visually impaired to recognize the faces of family and friends has been developed by students at Birmingham City University in the United Kingdom.

Called the XploR mobility cane, the device can analyze faces up to about 30 feet away and vibrates when it detects a recognizable face from a bank of images stored on an internal SD memory card. “The smart cane incorporates facial recognition technology to alert the user when they are approaching a relative or friend,” Steve Adigbo, one of the developers, said in a university-issued press release.

The cane also incorporates a GPS system for added navigational assistance. “We found that high-spec technology features were essential requirements for users, as well as the cane needing to be fairly lightweight and easy to use,” said Waheed Rafiq, another of the student developers.