VibroGuide utilizes Bluetooth Direction Finding and vibro-tactile technologies to augment wireless guidance of blind and visually impaired (VI) athletes. It is intended for follow-me, outdoor sports like kayaking, skiing, hiking, snow-shoeing, cycling or horseback riding.

Follow-Me guidance refers to a method where a blind or visually impaired athlete follows directly behind (or near) a human guide who remains vigilant for hazards and offers directional instructions. VibroGuide technology seeks to reduce difficulties encountered with classic audible or tether guidance methods by employing a quiet and wireless connection between the guide and blind athlete.

Guidance is accomplished through the use of a specialized electronic vest or life-jacket and is worn by a blind athlete. Several technologies are combined to calculate angle and distance to a human guide who is wearing a radio beacon. The electronics can instantly translate range and direction calculations into pulsing vibrations that are felt around the torso.

VibroGuide allows a blind athlete to dynamically and quietly “feel” the direction to their guide with heart-beat like pulses. The speed and tempo of the pulses provide a relative indication of distance to the guide. Optionally, a built-in speech synthesizer can announce instructions such as “right” “left” and distance to the guide and an AI speech recognition module provides an easy means of changing settings and modes using voice commands.

Direction Correction Example

In the below example, a guide (blue boat) is wearing a VibroGuide beacon on his arm. The beacon transmits a specialized radio pulse fifteen times per second. The following blind kayaker (yellow boat) is wearing a VibroGuide life vest. The electronics in the vest receives the beacon signal, calculates the angle-of-arrival of the signal as well as which vibration motor to pulse.

In this example, the blind kayaker has veered off-track and to the right. He immediately feels vibration pulses shift from the center of his chest to his left side, indicating the direction to correct. As the blind kayaker places a turning stroke on the right causing the boat to come back on track, he feels the pulses immediately shift back to the center of his chest. This guidance principle works the same when the guide turns right or left, thus allowing the blind kayaker to follow.

VibroGuide Mission:

To enhance therapeutic experience in active adaptive sports. VibroGuide lowers the blind / VI athlete’s dependence on hearing and physical connections thus enabling more enjoyment of nature and ambient environment sounds. This technology reduces the need for frequent “On-Me” or audible instructions announced by the guide thus opening more of the communication channel for chatting, describing the environment, attention to hazards or just quiet guiding.

Why Follow-Me Technology?

Our experience guiding outdoor adaptive sports like kayaking and skiing teaches that follow-me guidance is optimal for safety in highly dynamic environments. As well, outdoor sport venues can be far from WIFI networks, have limited cellular or satellite coverage and uneven terrain. All of this can effect the precision needed for outdoor guidance.

VibroGuide Features:

• Water and shock resistant enclosures.
• Maximum range between guide and blind athlete is about 20 meters.
• Battery life sufficient for 6-8 hours of continuous use.
• Easy to use. Just two buttons as well as voice commands.
• Provides assurance to a blind athlete during operation that they are being guided every second.
• Compact size of beacon. Can be worn on a guide armband, clipped on a belt or pocket or fastened to backpack or life jacket shoulder strap.
• Lightweight and size adjustable sports vest made of breathable mesh. Can be worn over a light layer of clothing or under a ski parka or jacket.
• Modular: Hook-and-Loop fasteners allows fast transfer of VibroGuide components between life jacket (PFD) and mesh sports vest.
• Blind Athlete receives both audible and tactile alert if signal from guide beacon is broken.
• Provide more outdoor sports opportunities for blind or visually impaired athletes by making guidance and following task less complicated.
• Our “SmartBeacon” allows the guide to trigger STOP and START with the tap of a button and can update the guide where the vest wearer is heading. It can also provide an alert of system failure (such as a dead battery or weak radio signal). SmartBeacon is about the size of a paperback book and can be worn on the guides forearm, clipped to a belt or backpack or held in the hand.
• A speech synthesizer provides audible announcements of turns, distance and system status.
• Voice commands can be used to change modes of operation such as:
  1. Enable/disable announcement of direction and distance to guide.
  2. Increase or decrease the intensity of vibrations felt in vest.
  3. Increase or decrease the reaction speed of directional pulses. This feature can be customized for various sports to regulate response time.
  4. Increase or decrease the volume of announcements.
  5. Just say, “Vest Help” to get a menu of available voice commands.