Company Develops AI-Controlled Shoes That Help the Blind Avoid Obstacles

Austrian company Tec-Innovation recently unveiled smart shoes that use ultrasonic sensors to help people suffering from blindness of vision impairment to detect obstacles up to four meters away. Known as InnoMake, the smart shoe aims to become a modern alternative to the decades-old walking stick that millions of people around the world depend on to get around as safely as possible. The currently available model relies on sensors to detect obstacles and warns the wearer via vibration and an audible alert sounded on a Bluetooth-linked smartphone. That sounds impressive enough, but the company is already working on a much more advanced version that incorporates cameras and artificial intelligence to not only detect obstacles but also their nature. Tec-Innovation partnered with Austria's Graz University of Technology to develop of state-of-the-art deep-learning algorithms modeled on neural networks that can analyze the information provided by sensors and cameras incorporated in the InnoMake shoe to determine whether an area is free obstacles and safe to walk on, and also distinguish between various types of obstacles. "Not only is the warning that I am facing an obstacle relevant, but also the information about what kind of obstacle I am facing.