SCIENCE IN THE NEWS DAILY
Science Projects for the Real World
from the Boston Globe (Registration Required)
It's great to see young scientists and engineers setting their minds on assistive technologies. Rather than building war-fighting exoskeletons and ray guns, students at two Massachusetts schools are designing prototypes to help people navigate around their workplaces and neighborhoods.
Science students at Bromfield School in Harvard are crafting a "cane" that will alert its carrier to obstacles and drops more than 20 feet away. The cane might not be a cane at all, once it's completed. Sunglasses or a belt buckle embedded with lasers and other sensors are also possible.
The device will talk in one of two ways: either via a changing Braille interface, or with a computerized voice. It might be able to break in on your iTunes listening, to warn you that a subway staircase is ahead, for instance.
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