Sonar-Controlled Glove Helps the Visually Impaired to Navigate

Steve Hoefer, an inventor from Grathio Labs, recently launched a new project called ‘Tacit.’ It is a sonar-controlled glove that provides tactile feedback to the wearer to help them navigate around a room. Hoefer designed the glove for visually impaired individuals, making it easy to wear and also simple to use. Tacit contains ultrasonic sensors that emit high frequency waves and then tracks the time for the waves to return to help judge the proximity of other objects. As the wearer waves his or her arm about, small motors apply various amounts of pressure on the wearer’s wrist. Less pressure indicates that objects are farther away, and more pressure means an object is nearby. Tacit can help detect objects from a distance of 2 centimeters to up to 10 meters away. As this is still a prototype, the creator intends to make improvements on features like the battery size as well as ease of recharging the unit.

Grathio Labs