@article{ref1,
title="Improving obstacle detection by redesign of walking canes for blind persons",
journal="Ergonomics",
year="2001",
author="Schellingerhout, R. and Bongers, Raoul M. and van Grinsven, R. and Smitsman, A. W. and Van Galen, G. P.",
volume="44",
number="5",
pages="513-526",
abstract="This paper describes an experiment in which the performance of cane walkers with the traditional straight long cane and a redesigned cane, the curved cane, was compared. The curved cane has a curve where the tip touches the ground. Participants were 18 experienced cane walkers who were totally blind. The aspects of cane walking that were investigated included obstacle detection, drop-off (slope) detection and walking speed. The performance with both canes was investigated in two different ways: (1) by means of constructed courses in which objective measures of cane walking were derived; and (2) by means of more qualitative measures based on the participants' experiences with the curved cane during a 3-week try-out period. Results showed that obstacle-detection was significantly better with the curved cane, whereas drop-off detection and walking speed were comparable for the two canes. The participants' experiences mirrored these results.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="0014-0139",
doi="",
url="http://dx.doi.org/"
}