CaneFX-An Interactive White Cane Learning Tool for People with Visual Impairment

This paper discusses an interactive white cane learning tool for children with visual impairment to familiarize themselves with the use of the white cane. A prototype, named CaneFX, was designed based on motion capture technology which utilizes an accelerometer to understand the motion of the white cane. A microcontroller was implemented to process the data obtained from the accelerometer. Three modes were implemented to detect different white cane motions which are sweeping, tapping and hitting motions and for each motion, a sound is associated with it. Experimental testing was conducted to find an optimal setup of the proposed prototype and evaluate its usability. The results show that the prototype is capable of detecting the motions in real-time with high accuracy on a rough floor surface.