In the past, we have blogged about a few projects that we felt were not only incredibly clever and well-designed, but were also genuinely useful. This is one of those projects. Check it out - Project Tacit: Sonar for the Blind.
This project, by Steve Hoefer of Grathio Labs, is built around three basic parts - some ultrasonic sensors, an Arduino Pro Mini, and a few servo motors. The ultrasonic sensors read the distance (from 1 inch to 10 feet) between them and an object and the microcontroller interprets the data. It then sends signals to the servo motors, which apply pressure to the user's wrist to let them know how far (or close) they are away from an object. It's designed to let the user navigate complex environments. Watch the video below for more:
This is a truly amazing project that has the potential to be incredible useful for visually impaired individuals. Check out the project page on Grathio Labs website. Amazing work Steve, and great project!