an online magazine from eyeway.org
an online magazine from eyeway.org
issue 6 
september-october 2005
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sections in this issue: by george | focus | feature | perspectives | profile | headlines
Headlines : India News
other headlines sub-sections: world news | calendar of events
Daily wage earner develops special cane for visually impaired users
Coimbatore; August 31, 2005
A daily wage earner in a confectionery-making unit in Tuticorin district of Tamil Nadu has developed a special cane for visually handicapped users. It has two battery cells and makes different sounds.
Anandan, a 'mithai master' in Kulasekharapatnam, who displayed the special cane fitted with a wheel at the bottom, at a seminar on 'Innovations for human development,' told PTI that a specially fitted three-foot aerial in the cane vibrates whenever the user comes across any obstacle.
On what prompted him to make the stick, Anandan said he became upset when he saw a blind man falling into a pit and struggling to regain control. From then on, he started work on developing a stick which would be useful for visually impaired users.
He had first made a cane with seven wheels, making different sounds when it dashed against stones or other obstacles. However, weighing in at about 24 kg, that was a very heavy cane to carry around. Then he developed the new 1.3 kg stick, fitted with an earphone, toy car motor and a bell, by which the user can identify pits and other obstacles, he said.Other India News stories in this issue:
Blind candidates can sit for bank exam, rules Supreme Court
Visually impaired family charts its own path to independence
Car rally for visually impaired navigators
Pak doctors in city to sharpen paediatric ophthalmology skills
ISRO's EDUSAT will deliver live audio for blind students
India, US sign vision research agreement
Ophthalmologist creates medical history