Wearable Sonar Smart-Bracelet to Empower Mobility for Blind and Visually Impaired Agence France-Presse
go to original November 22, 2015

SunuBand IndieGoGo(Sunu Inc)

Two entrepreneurial engineers from the Tec de Monterrey institute in Mexico have taken wearable technology beyond just emails and social networking, by creating a bracelet with a very specific purpose, to help the visually impaired navigate more safely the world around them.

Based on an echo system, as used by animals such as bats and dolphins, the Sunu band bracelet emits high-frequency sound waves that bounce after hitting an object, before recording these waves with a proximity sensor and calculating the distance.

The bracelet then sends this information to the wearer using vibrations, which increase in frequency the closer the wearer gets to the object. The bracelet can be used both in and outdoors and has a range of 4.5 metres.

The entrepreneurs behind the design, Marco Antonio Trujillo Tejeda and Cuauhtli Padilla Arias, have also developed a tag to go with the bracelet that locates lost objects.

Place the tag on an object such as keys, and the tag will communicate the location of the object to user via Bluetooth, sending the information to the bracelet or a smartphone, using vibrations which will indicate to the user the distance of the object.

The bracelet is currently protected by international patent and is in the process of being internationally produced in Mexico. It will go on pre-sale through a crowdfunding campaign on IndieGoGo.com.

Read the rest at Malay Mail Online

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