It’s almost fiction coming true where everything from your shoes to your jeans can talk to you. IoT and connected devices are here to stay and almost everything around you will communicate with each other. In a new opening, a smart cane has been developed which will help the elderly, crippled, or injured, inform your near and dear ones in case you fall. The walking stick, named Dring Smartcane from a French startup Nov’in debuted at the CES this year, now pushed the centuries old tool into the digital space. The cane has a built-in accelerometer and a gyroscope which tracks the user’s movements.
The cane also has an alerting system which connects to a GSM network and alerts the person’s immediate caretaker about a mishap. The sensors inside the cane include a GPS, which can give the caregiver complete information about the whereabouts of the one using it. Since it contains GSM connectivity, it does not need to be paired to any device. Caregivers automatically receive a phone call, a text message or an email. The caregiver signals that he/she can respond to the alert. Confirmation is sent to the cane, which lets its user know that someone has been warned. The onboard battery lasts long enough to allow charging between weeks of use.
The cane also uses a built-in AI system to process the data and understand the user’s habits, movements and walking habits, including activity, tiredness and other changes, and uploads it to a secure server for further analysis.
The cane looks as authentic as the centuries-old traditional cane design and conceals all the sensors within the grip itself. The cane is expected to be on shelves by end of this year.
