Health Tech Will Make Smart Cities Smarter

BY ALFRED POOR

Smart Cane

The smart cane has a powered omnidirectional wheel at the tip, which can pull slightly to one side or the other, either to create a momentary change in their path, to avoid an obstacle, or to tell them when it’s time to turn to stay on their route to their destination.

As architects in the era of information, we must utilize technology to manage urban risk and design resilient cities.

© STANFORD UNIVERSITY/ANDREW BRODHEAD

Whether it’s a product, service, or smart city, there is a need for diversity in the design process. Certainly, how somebody interacts with an environment is colored by their background and attitudes. But there’s also the physical component: Individuals have varying physical capabilities. And for everyone to enjoy all the benefits of a city, we need to make sure that we take all their abilities and limitations into account.

Smart Cane

People who are blind or visually impaired often use a white cane to help them navigate. This technology has not changed in hundreds of years. But researchers at Stanford University have created a smart cane using the same technology available for autonomous cars, including LIDAR, which can detect objects in the user’s path; GPS to locate them; and motion-detection sensors. Combined, it provides more information about where the user is and how they can go from where they are to their intended destination—even if they’ve never been there before. This is just one example of how we can use smarter technology to help make it easier for individuals to access all the parts of the city environment.

Aira

A fascinating service called Aira helps visionimpaired or blind users navigate and perform useful tasks by pairing the user with a sighted companion who works remotely using the camera in VR glasses or a smartphone to see the environment around the user.

The City of Chula Vista, California, has started a one-year pilot program to provide this service for free within its downtown area. Sighted companions can help users do things like read a menu or describe the colors of clothing in a shop. They can even help them determine whether the bus that’s arriving is the one they need to get to their destination. So, incorporating technology like this in a city can open it up and make it much more available to people with limited vision.

Smart Wheelchairs

There are a lot of interesting improvements in terms of wheelchairs, including the Whill, which comes with all-terrain tires that can roll forward and sideways. They can climb obstacles up to 3 inches tall, and they aren’t limited to just concrete and paved surfaces.

Other wheelchairs go beyond this. For example, Shirley Ryan Ability Lab Standing Wheelchairs raise the user to a vertical standing position so that they can access things that they wouldn’t be able to reach. These sit-stand chairs provide a lot more accessibility to services and products and can make a big difference in people’s lives.

Personal Exoskeletons

There’s been a lot of exciting progress made by Wandercraft in terms of personal exoskeletons. Even if a person is paralyzed from the waist down, they can still walk with them. Some newer models balance the user standing vertically without using their arms or outside support. They’re also developing ways for these exoskeletons to support the body to walk with a more natural human gait, so they’re able to climb steps and more. There’s a new realm of accessibility as these exoskeleton products become more refined and more available.

The bottom line is that we have an opportunity to make our cities more accessible and make their benefits more readily available to more people, no matter their limitations. It’s important to consider what impact those limitations might have when they try to access the things you’re building for them.

© WHILL

Whill Wheelchair

Whill comes with all-terrain tires that can go through gravel, over grass and fields and more, and open up lots of destinations that people in wheelchairs might not otherwise be available.

Alfred Poor

Editor, Health Tech Insider

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

The founding editor of Health Tech Insider, Alfred Poor, Ph.D., is a technology speaker, writer, and analyst with an international reputation. Author of more than a dozen books, he continues to be fascinated by things that can make a difference in people’s lives.