How it all began...
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 is the beginning of a rehabilitation period, and also of the thought process to prevent these kinds of collisions. Not only for her, but for everyone who depends on a blind cane.
In the Netherlands there are about 20,000 of them, worldwide the estimates are 4 million. So people with such a cane are not safe at night or on dark days. Even stronger: many of them feel so unsafe that they do not go out at all if the light 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 from the Hogeschool Rotterdam developed prototypes. Using a 3D printer, canes are now being produced for the testing 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.
Meanwhile, a foundation has been established - the StreetwEYE foundation - which will raise funds to finance an industrial design of the LightUpCane. At the same time, a study should answer the question of whether the LightUpCane is adequate.
The logo was developed by
Havas Lemz in Amsterdam.