Our latest ‘I’ve got an idea’ Fund award is to Matt Carlon, an Industrial Design Engineer with over 20 years experience in disability product development.

In Matt’s words, “my idea is for a ‘virtual’ white stick that uses LIDAR technology to allow blind people to ‘feel’ their surroundings, objects and textures. The design has a point displacement pressure pad that presses against the users finger, much like a braille dot, a variable amount directly correlating to a LIDAR measurement. The LIDAR scale and sensitivity can be adjusted by the user with a thumb wheel and rocker. The thumb wheel on the top adjusts the far distance limit so the user can ‘click’ half a metre increments indicating a ‘measurable’ distance; the rocker (which has the pressure pad within it) pivots to increase the near distance limit and the sensitivity of the displacement feedback allowing the user to touch and feel the shape of the object they are pointing at. My hope is that it will give a improved scope for orientation, in the case of walking the user could scan further ahead than a step, to the side they could orientate with buildings; the tactile response will provide a new intuitive sensory experience to understand their environment, they could ‘see’ sculptures and feel what a park ‘looks’ like.“