ASET Technology Alberta Winter 2020 - 26

CAP STONE PROJEC T OF THE YE AR

Navneet Kaler, Daniel Oake
and Nathaniel Painchaud
NAIT

A team from NAIT won the Association of Science and Engineering Technology Professionals of Alberta (ASET) 2020
Capstone Project of the Year Award for building a better white
cane for the visually impaired: the VISAIDE Smart Cane.
The traditional white cane is the most commonly used mobility device around the world, providing tactile feedback to
the user to aid safe, efficient and independent travel in familiar and unfamiliar environments. It also serves as a global
identifier of people with visual impairments. However, since
its invention almost a century ago, it's undergone surprisingly little improvement. That is, until the Capstone Awardwinning team took a contemporary approach to it.
The VISAIDE Smart Cane, invented by former NAIT biomedical engineering technology students Nathaniel Painchaud,
Daniel Oake and Navneet Kaler, boasts the bells and whistles only smart technology can offer.

Remote smartphone accessibility
A multimode button interface on the cane handle communicates via Bluetooth to operate iPhones through a back-end
accessibility feature called switch control. By pressing buttons on the handle, the user can activate customized, preprogrammed smart device functions, such as turn-by-turn
GPS walking directions, emergency location services, and
messaging to and from family members and caregivers.
For example, some of the preprogrammed functions are designed to contact family members and caregivers in emergencies and provide access to current locations. The Smart
Cane signals the iPhone to execute pre-generated messages
or to open the messaging app so that the user can dictate a
text if the message isn't preprogrammed. VoiceOver, a gesture-based screen reader that enables iPhone operation if the
screen can't be seen, is used to read all incoming messages.

26 | WINTER 2020 | TECHNOLOGY ALBERTA

Advanced obstacle and surface water detection
The Smart Cane incorporates Lidar technology, which
gauges distances by illuminating the target with laser light
and measuring the reflection with a sensor. The cane is outfitted with a Lidar optical distance measurement sensor and
liquid level detector to collect information about the user's
surroundings, and relay signals to the user through a haptic
(vibration) feedback system.
The vibrations alert the user to the presence and proximity of
obstacles and/or surface water, giving her or him extra time
to prepare to avoid them, and enabling navigation of unfamiliar environments with increased speed and confidence.

Handled with care
Due to the white cane's universal status as an assistive device and symbol of independence, the NAIT team strived to
package the smart technology features into its familiar form.
An ergonomic handle was CAD modeled and 3D printed to
house all the required electronics and allow retrofitting to
any standard white cane. Given cosmetic similarities between white canes and the Smart Cane, users would not
face a significant challenge in transitioning to the latter.
" Our team at NAIT decided that we wanted to work on something assistive technology based as we all found the idea
of creating a device that had the potential to help people
overcome challenges in their everyday lives to be very motivating and inspiring, " said Painchaud.
" The VISAIDE Smart Cane, a visionary idea whose time has
come, is an outstanding example of the high calibre of innovation and commitment to the public good we see embodied in the capstone projects prepared by engineering
technology students across the province, " said ASET CEO
Barry Cavanaugh.

ASET Technology Alberta Winter 2020

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