A team of computer scientists from Austria has developed a groundbreaking shoe called InnoMake to help blind people avoid obstacles while walking. Working together, Tec-Innovation, an Austrian company, and Graz University of Technology created these shoes, which cost over $3,000.

InnoMake is equipped with a waterproof ultrasonic sensor on each shoe’s toe, capable of detecting obstacles up to 13 feet away. When an obstacle is detected, the wearer is alerted through vibrations and sounds, similar to the parking sensors in cars.

Markus Raffer, a visually impaired co-founder of Tec-Innovation, praised the effectiveness of the technology, stating, “This works very well and is already a great help to me personally.”

Each foot has its own sensor, which can be bought as a complete shoe or added as a retrofit option. These sensors can even distinguish between different types of obstacles, such as walls, cars, or stairs, providing tailored alerts.

Tec-Innovation plans to improve the design of InnoMake by adding camera-based recognition and machine learning for even better navigation assistance. Future versions may also include a “street view navigation map” to assist other users.

Friedrich Fraundorfer at TU Graz explained, “They use camera images from the foot perspective to determine an area that is free of obstacles and thus safe to walk on, and they can recognize and distinguish objects.”

InnoMake has the potential to significantly improve the lives of visually impaired individuals by helping them navigate their surroundings with greater independence and safety.