Smart White Canes Break New Ground for Rwanda's Visually Impaired

The distribution of locally-devloped smart white canes (SWC) is a watershed moment for the visually impaired of Rwanda. The high-tech white cane, which is the first of its kind to be made in Rwanda, uses ultrasonic ranging technology to detect obstacles in a distance of 1.2 meters and alert the user through vibrations and sounds.

Amani Niyoyita, the young innovator behind the creation, said that the SWC is rechargeable able to be used for five days with electricity, adding it can be charged using a normal phone charger. Niyoyita also said: "With this smart blind stick you can track where they are located because it has GPS of wherever they are. This means the stick can't be stolen and go missing because it can be tracked using a mobile phone or machine using a software we have developed."

Niyoyita's team collaborated with the United Nations Development Program's (UNDP) Rwanda Accelerator Lab who in November 2021 donated 40 of the devices to persons with visual impairment.

With a Smart White Cane, Sumaya Rebecca will go wherever she wants to without a human guide (file photo).

The launch of the Smart White Cane at Masaka Resource Center for the Blind, where 40 locally developed ‘smart canes’ devices were handed over to persons with visual impairment (file photo).

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