STRAP uses the same technology available in self-driving cars. Because at the end of the day, our goal is the same except that they are navigating automobiles and we want to help the visually impaired navigate better in the world. We should add that the vast investment and innovation the autonomous car driving industry has generated the last five years is responsible for letting us accomplish our unique technology. Now radar and ultrasonic sensors are better, cheaper, smaller and more accurate than ever. This is why we have not seen a replacement of the cane before. The technology was not ready for it. Now it is. We have made prototypes that include LIDAR, but have found this technology to be rather limited and expensive relative to the more capable RADAR and ultrasonic. Therefore we, (like Tesla,) will most likely not be including LIDAR in our device.

The main incentive of STRAP is to achieve more independence for people with visual disabilities and give them more opportunities without the need to carry a cane or any other accessory. Our long term goal is to replace the white cane entirely. Our team has developed a wearable device that is composed of sensors and uses haptic language. Just by feeling vibrations in different parts of the body, the user is warned of obstacles, detected by the device’s sensors that are interpreted and classified by artificial intelligence. For example, if the user is on a sidewalk, this will not be perceived as an obstacle and the device will not attempt to warn you. But if it perceives a pothole in the sidewalk, it will identify danger and warn you. The wearable device also detects the approach of moving objects such as vehicles, alerting the user with enough time for the person to stop. Something new is the ability to detect things above the waist, spaces that the cane does not have access to. Thanks to the sensors, tall objects are detected such as trees, poles, signs, and columns, avoiding run-ins that can often occur and that the cane cannot detect. In addition to haptic language, STRAP also provides straight line navigation and the ability to go up and down stairs.

We are in the process of developing a haptic language for our STRAP device. Yes, there are different vibration patterns and intensities for the user to understand what is in front of them. Our team has developed haptic actuators in each over the shoulder strap and in the main core of the wearable device. With this development, STRAP offers a different sequence of vibrations for each situation.