Microsoft Backs Development of Smart Cane for Visually Impaired

Canes for visually impaired can be more than ‘just a stick’
WeWalk comes equipped with GPS, taxi booking, voice assistant

Bloomberg's Tech Editor Nate Lanxon always introduces us to new gadgets, but this one in particular is changing the game for the visually impaired. Helping them get around independently and safely. (Source: QuickTake)

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By Nate Lanxon

January 6, 2021 at 5:01 AM UTC

This article is for subscribers only.

Jean Marc Feghali has Leber’s Congenital Amaurosis, a disease that reduces his peripheral vision and renders him effectively blind at night. But the intelligent walking cane he’s helping to develop has been life-changing, he says. It’s also won support from Microsoft Corp.

“We’ve come to a world where we talk about autonomous vehicles and yet we’re still sending visually impaired people out with what is essentially a stick,” Feghali said. “It doesn’t take you anywhere. It doesn’t take you to a coffee shop. It doesn’t help you seek employment. It’s just a stick.”