Debby Marchena is an archaeologist, artist, and also visually impaired.
In 2017, she was hit at night by a car that overlooked her with her blind cane.
That's the beginning of a rehabilitation period, and also the thought process to avoid these kinds of collisions. Not only for her, but for everyone who is dependent on a blind cane.
In the Netherlands there are about 20,000 of them, worldwide the estimates are 4 million. People with such a cane are therefore not safe at night or on dark days. In fact, many of them feel so unsafe that they don't even go out when lighting conditions are not optimal.
Debby gets to work. At the Waag in Amsterdam the possibilities are inventoried: the Light-Up Cane is born!
Then students of the Rotterdam University of Applied Sciences developed prototypes. Using a 3D printer, canes are now being produced for the test phase.
The business of producing the canes is a huge challenge. This is a relatively small market, and no one is venturing into the development costs.
There is now a team assisted by Havas Lemz in Amsterdam.
A pilot study is planned to measure the need for a Light-up Cane.
After that, a larger study must follow and money must be raised to start producing the canes.