Tactile Wand is the New Blind Stick - The Cand Gets Wiimoted (GALLERY)

Looking like a cousin of Nintendo’s Wiimote, the Tactile Wand is actually a ’smart’ wand designed to replace the traditional long stick used by the visually impaired. Created by Jin Woo Han, the Wand utilizes a sensor on the front to detect nearby objects and provides feedback about how far away they are with varying levels of vibration. The wand includes a tactile strip where you place your thumb that will actually indicate the position of objects around you.

Add this to our list of the top innovations for the blind:

Top 12 Hip Trends for the Blind + Avatars For The Blind

The blind demographic has been missing out on simulated life in the virtual world, but Irish IBM students hope to change that. “The students have designed an audio equivalent of the virtual world using 3D sound to create a sense of space,” the BBC reported.  One of the Irish researchers explained i… [More]