I have not much to offer here in terms of worthwhile comment on this particular device. Maybe these folks will finally be the ones who are able to make canes full of sensors and software into a thing. Open-sourcing the design is at least a good start.
The reason I’ve called you all here today is because of a claim made in the article I read about the attempt.
One of the biggest benefits of the new augmented cane is that it significantly cheaper than smart canes that came before it. Some of the past smart canes were extremely heavy, weighing up to 50 pounds, and cost as much as $6000.
The new augmented cane utilizes state-of-the-art sensors and only weighs three pounds. It could be built at home from freely available parts and open-source software for a price of around $400.
WWWWWWWWWWWWHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATTTTTTTTTTTTT!?
$6000, I’ll buy that. Wait. No. Wrong choice of words. You can put that price tag somewhere inappropriate. Let’s try that I’ll believe. Yes, much better. But who in the name of god made a 50 pound cane? The answer is no one, right? Please tell me this is a typo. Unless the goal was to move the obstacles out of your way instead of doing things the other way around.
Hmmm…that might be fun, actually. Anybody have $6000?