Crowdfunding started for “robotic cane” - Give us your opinions!
Published on Oct 20, 2020
Research group uses crowdfunding to further develop “robotic cane”
” Have you ever seen a visually impaired person walking with a white cane? " asks lecturer Atsushi Imazu.
He used to think that everyone with a visual impairment could use a white cane well, but in reality, even on the sidewalk where they should be accustomed to walking on, such as one used during their commute, they often bump their shoulder on the same telephone pole. It seems that there are many people who are not good at walking about alone with a white cane.
Using this as a background for a research application of robot technology, Atsushi started developing a cane-shaped navigation device that, with a simple push, guides visually impaired people as they walk alone. In 2019, more than a dozen visually impaired people helped us demonstrate the device by using it as a guide while they walked around inside a shopping mall during business hours. Since then, it has been introduced in several media outlets, and more and more people have said that they would like to try it.
However, currently his research group does not have enough people to try out the device. They are using a crowdfunding platform to plan a 4-day event that will allow up to 50 to 80 people to experience the device.
Your opinions are extremely important to the future development of this device. Thank you for your support.
| 【Project Name】 "Give us your voice! Help us develop our device that supports the visually impaired to walk alone." |
| 【Registration Period】 1pm - 2020/10/20（Tue） ～ 11pm - 2021/1/6（Wed）《78 days》 |
| 【Website】 https://readyfor.jp/projects/guidecane2 |
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【Overview】 The purpose of the crowdfunding is to support the cost of operating the hands-on event for the robotic cane-type navigation device that we have developed so far. At the event, you will experience the device in its various modes: automatic guidance mode, remote helper mode, etc., and we will use your feedback to improve the device. If we exceed the target amount, we will use the extra funds to improve the equipment and increase the number of days and people who can participate in the event. The event will be held for 4 days from January 18th to 21st, 2021 at the Keihanna Open Innovation Center in the Seika / Nishi-Kizu area of Kyoto Prefecture. Individuals who do not invest in this crowdfunding are still able to participate in the event. More details will be announced on the Guide Cane Project web page. |
Past activities, etc.
[Exhibition, etc.]
■ Society of Instrument and Control Engineers SI Division Lecture SI2010 Excellent Lecture Award "Pedestrian route guidance system with dog walking interface"
■ IoT / Robot Business Demonstration Experiment Support Program AIDOR EXPERIMENTATION 2017
"Functional verification of pedestrian guidance system using cane-type wheeled device" (https://teqs.jp/report/exp003_interview.php)
■ IoT / Robot Business Demonstration Experiment Support Program AIDOR EXPERIMENTATION 2018
"Demonstration experiment of a wheeled cane-type device that guides the walking of visually impaired people" (https://teqs.jp/report/exp007_interview.php)
■ Service Robot Development Technology Exhibition 2019 Seminar `` Cane-type navigation device with wheels aiming to support independent walking of visually impaired people''
■ Exhibited at Maker Faire Tokyo 2019
■ Exhibited at Maker Faire Kyoto 2020
■ Exhibit at Innovation Japan 2019
■ Exhibited at Taisho Ward Manufacturing Festa 2019
■ Received the "Umekita Phase 2 Regional Development Project Award" at the 2019 "1st Osaka Tech Grand Prix"
■ C-Startup pitch at CYBERNICS EXPO 2019
■ Lecture at the 191st TMC Technology Workshop (2nd online version) "Development of a cane-shaped guide navigation system for visually impaired people"
[Media appearance, etc.]
■ NHK Kansai News January 15, 2018
■ Mainichi Broadcasting System "Chichin Puipui" March 12, 2018
■ NHK Radio 2 "Visually Impaired Navi Radio" January 28, 2018
■ Yomiuri Shimbun Kansai Edition (Evening Edition) January 15, 2018
■ Nikkan Kogyo Shimbun January 16, 2018
■ Yomiuri Shimbun Kansai Edition (morning edition) February 1, 2019
■ Asahi Shimbun Digital December 19, 2019
■ Asahi Shimbun Kansai Edition Evening Edition December 23, 2019
■ Nikkan Kogyo Shimbun December 25, 2019
