WEBVTT - Talking Tech 29th April 2025 0:00:08.160 --> 0:00:12.119 Hello everyone. Welcome to Talking Tech. This edition available from 0:00:12.120 --> 0:00:16.280 April the 29th, 2025. I'm Stephen Jolly. Great to have 0:00:16.280 --> 0:00:19.640 you with us listening maybe through Vision Australia Radio, associated 0:00:19.640 --> 0:00:23.520 stations of the Radio Reading Network or the Community Radio Network. 0:00:23.840 --> 0:00:26.400 There is also the podcast. To catch that, all you 0:00:26.400 --> 0:00:29.520 need to do is search for the two words talking tech. 0:00:29.680 --> 0:00:32.400 And it can all come usually on a Tuesday afternoon 0:00:32.400 --> 0:00:35.600 just after it's been produced. Another option is to ask 0:00:35.600 --> 0:00:38.879 your Siri device or smart speaker to play. Vision Australia 0:00:38.879 --> 0:00:44.360 radio talking tech podcast. Vision Australia radio talking tech podcast 0:00:45.080 --> 0:00:50.240 with me. Vision Australia's national access technology manager. Damo McMorrow. Hey, Damo. 0:00:50.519 --> 0:00:51.360 G'day, Stephen. 0:00:51.919 --> 0:00:55.039 Damo, this week you're going to take us for a 0:00:55.040 --> 0:00:57.880 walk with your We walk smart cane. 0:00:58.640 --> 0:01:00.200 Yes, I certainly am. 0:01:00.800 --> 0:01:04.400 The we walk smart cane too. So you took it 0:01:04.400 --> 0:01:06.170 out on the track a few days ago? 0:01:06.450 --> 0:01:08.890 Yes, I did, so I'm able to sort of demonstrate 0:01:09.250 --> 0:01:12.530 some of the buttons, the quality of the audio and 0:01:12.530 --> 0:01:15.450 some of the features that, uh, make this a really 0:01:15.450 --> 0:01:18.530 interesting and very useful device if you're a cane user. 0:01:18.810 --> 0:01:22.330 Jamie McMorrow on the road with his smart cane. Two. 0:01:22.730 --> 0:01:26.289 So let's start with a description of the device itself. 0:01:26.530 --> 0:01:31.490 So for all intents and purposes, the Walk Smart Cane 0:01:31.530 --> 0:01:34.810 two feels very like any other long cane that you 0:01:34.810 --> 0:01:37.890 might be familiar with. We've got a rubber grip at 0:01:37.890 --> 0:01:40.490 the top of the cane. We have a piece of 0:01:40.490 --> 0:01:44.289 elastic which holds everything together, and at the other end 0:01:44.330 --> 0:01:48.690 we have the ball type cane tip. There are a 0:01:48.690 --> 0:01:53.170 few differences though. So the first thing that you will 0:01:53.170 --> 0:01:57.809 notice with this is that the tip is a 360 tip. 0:01:57.810 --> 0:02:00.809 So it can roll, but it can also pivot. So 0:02:00.810 --> 0:02:05.109 it's designed to not uh, Uh, get stuck when you, 0:02:05.150 --> 0:02:08.590 you know, encounter gravel or uneven surfaces and those sorts 0:02:08.590 --> 0:02:11.950 of things. Now, because the cane shaft is an amber 0:02:11.950 --> 0:02:16.150 tech shaft, you can install other tips on this cane. 0:02:16.150 --> 0:02:18.830 You can use, for example, the marshmallow tip, that kind 0:02:18.830 --> 0:02:22.310 of thing. However, we will do say that, uh, all 0:02:22.350 --> 0:02:27.510 of the obstacle detection functionality is calibrated using this 360 tip. 0:02:27.510 --> 0:02:30.430 I don't mind it myself, but I have heard others 0:02:30.430 --> 0:02:32.070 say that they don't like it and that they think 0:02:32.070 --> 0:02:35.430 it's too large. But, uh, personally, I haven't really found 0:02:35.430 --> 0:02:37.830 it to be a problem. The other thing you'll notice 0:02:37.870 --> 0:02:41.430 is that the handle is a little different to most 0:02:41.430 --> 0:02:45.310 other canes. And, uh, when I say that, what I 0:02:45.310 --> 0:02:47.790 mean is that we have a number of buttons and 0:02:47.790 --> 0:02:50.990 sensors and things on the handle. So the handle is 0:02:50.990 --> 0:02:54.670 secured to the cane with an adapter, you can unscrew 0:02:54.670 --> 0:02:56.990 the handle from the cane, but I wouldn't recommend you 0:02:56.990 --> 0:02:59.550 do that unless you, you know, need to send it 0:02:59.550 --> 0:03:01.710 back for repair or you're having a problem with it 0:03:01.710 --> 0:03:04.840 because it can be difficult to get on and off. 0:03:04.840 --> 0:03:07.680 So normally I would leave it assembled if I was you. 0:03:07.800 --> 0:03:11.720 So on the top of the handle we have the 0:03:11.720 --> 0:03:15.480 speaker grille and it's a Harman Kardon speaker. It's actually 0:03:15.480 --> 0:03:18.080 quite loud. And we'll, we'll take it for a little 0:03:18.080 --> 0:03:20.080 walk in a minute, and I can show you that 0:03:20.120 --> 0:03:25.480 we have a USB C port on one side of 0:03:25.480 --> 0:03:30.280 the handle. And that's for obviously charging the handle, which 0:03:30.280 --> 0:03:33.160 contains all of the smarts a little further down on 0:03:33.160 --> 0:03:35.120 the same side of the handle, we have a couple 0:03:35.160 --> 0:03:38.560 of buttons. Now, one of which doesn't do anything at 0:03:38.560 --> 0:03:41.840 the moment, I don't think, but the other controls the 0:03:41.840 --> 0:03:46.760 obstacle detection mode. Um, turning the handle around, we've got 0:03:46.800 --> 0:03:51.720 a series of four buttons, and these are for controlling 0:03:51.720 --> 0:03:56.880 the navigation functionality of the cane, and also the voice assistant, 0:03:56.880 --> 0:03:59.840 which I will also demonstrate in a moment. And a 0:03:59.840 --> 0:04:04.300 little below that we have the obstacle detection sensor. It 0:04:04.300 --> 0:04:08.540 just feels like a small slot, almost a little bit 0:04:08.540 --> 0:04:11.580 like a slotted screw, but wider and below that we 0:04:11.580 --> 0:04:16.260 have a small smooth area, which is the flashlight, and 0:04:16.260 --> 0:04:19.380 that's really all there is to it in terms of 0:04:19.740 --> 0:04:23.180 the hardware on the cane. The idea of this, though, 0:04:23.180 --> 0:04:26.220 is that while you do pair the cane with your phone, 0:04:26.220 --> 0:04:28.700 you shouldn't need to get your phone out of your pocket. 0:04:28.700 --> 0:04:31.060 Once that's done, you should just be able to turn 0:04:31.060 --> 0:04:34.740 the cane on and have it connect through the walk app. 0:04:34.740 --> 0:04:39.700 And then everything is driven from the um. The hand 0:04:39.740 --> 0:04:42.060 grip on the side of the cane. You can use 0:04:42.060 --> 0:04:45.099 it in either left or right handed mode. The trick 0:04:45.100 --> 0:04:49.860 is to make sure that the sensor, the obstacle detection sensor, 0:04:49.860 --> 0:04:52.500 is pointing up. So that gives you a good sort 0:04:52.500 --> 0:04:55.540 of way to orientate yourself around the cane. Now, in 0:04:55.540 --> 0:04:57.860 terms of the buttons, let me just tell you about 0:04:57.860 --> 0:04:59.780 those and then we'll go and take the device for 0:04:59.870 --> 0:05:03.910 a quick walk, so the row of four buttons are 0:05:03.910 --> 0:05:06.190 the main ones that you'll use. So the top one 0:05:06.190 --> 0:05:09.470 is our power button and that is a square shape. 0:05:09.470 --> 0:05:12.990 We've then got a an arrow that sort of points 0:05:12.990 --> 0:05:15.029 upwards towards the top of the cane. So it's a 0:05:15.030 --> 0:05:18.590 triangular button. We then have a circular button which is 0:05:18.590 --> 0:05:21.710 used to trigger the voice assistant, and then we have 0:05:21.830 --> 0:05:25.430 a downward pointing arrow at the bottom of that row 0:05:25.430 --> 0:05:29.910 of buttons. The buttons that control the obstacle detection functionality 0:05:29.950 --> 0:05:32.510 are just two small round buttons. So I'm going to 0:05:32.550 --> 0:05:37.430 power the cane on now, and I've got the walk 0:05:37.470 --> 0:05:40.150 app running on my phone as well. And I'm going 0:05:40.190 --> 0:05:42.790 to do that by holding down the square button. So 0:05:42.790 --> 0:05:48.470 that's the top one closest to the speaker. And we 0:05:48.470 --> 0:05:53.230 hear that little tune that tells us it's powered up, connected, 0:05:53.230 --> 0:05:57.630 and there's our sound to indicate that the cane is connected. 0:05:57.630 --> 0:06:00.760 So from here I shouldn't really need to touch my 0:06:00.880 --> 0:06:03.600 phone at all. So there are a few things we 0:06:03.600 --> 0:06:07.520 can do here so we can save locations and navigate 0:06:07.520 --> 0:06:12.280 to them. And we can also use the voice assistant. 0:06:12.480 --> 0:06:15.440 And we do that by holding the circular button down 0:06:15.440 --> 0:06:18.960 and speaking. So for example I could do something like this. 0:06:20.800 --> 0:06:22.280 Where is the nearest cafe? 0:06:23.960 --> 0:06:27.600 I found five addresses. I will sort it based on distance, 0:06:27.600 --> 0:06:31.440 starting with the nearest location address one by an e cafe. 0:06:33.920 --> 0:06:40.240 Address two three tiers. Cafe. Address three cafe Ava. 0:06:40.360 --> 0:06:43.480 And so on. So we can go through the different 0:06:43.480 --> 0:06:47.280 search results because it's using ChatGPT, you know, you can 0:06:47.280 --> 0:06:49.600 also ask it random things. I don't quite know why 0:06:49.600 --> 0:06:51.839 you would ask your cane, for example, for a chocolate 0:06:51.840 --> 0:06:54.800 chip cookie recipe, but in theory you could. What we'll 0:06:54.800 --> 0:06:58.020 do now is we'll pop outside and I will show 0:06:58.020 --> 0:07:02.660 you the obstacle detection functionality. Okay, so we're now outside. 0:07:02.660 --> 0:07:05.140 Apologies for the wind noise, but not too much I 0:07:05.140 --> 0:07:08.300 can do about it today. I'm holding the cane in 0:07:08.300 --> 0:07:11.340 my left hand because I'm a left handed cane user, 0:07:11.860 --> 0:07:17.140 and I'm going to turn on the obstacle detection mode. 0:07:19.420 --> 0:07:24.220 Now there are three settings. There's short, mid and far. 0:07:24.260 --> 0:07:28.340 This is obviously to alter, you know how how sensitive 0:07:28.380 --> 0:07:31.220 the obstacle detection functionality is. And then if I press 0:07:31.220 --> 0:07:35.740 it again it turns it off. The other thing we 0:07:35.740 --> 0:07:38.380 can do is by pressing and holding this button. 0:07:39.540 --> 0:07:41.260 Obstacle detection. Sound off. 0:07:41.500 --> 0:07:44.060 We can turn the sound off so that the cane 0:07:44.060 --> 0:07:48.900 vibrates instead, which you may want, because the audio is 0:07:48.900 --> 0:07:51.820 kind of a little bit makes you feel a little 0:07:51.860 --> 0:07:54.700 bit conspicuous, I would say. But for the moment, let's 0:07:54.700 --> 0:07:55.340 turn it on. 0:07:56.670 --> 0:07:58.510 Obstacle detection sound on. 0:07:58.870 --> 0:08:07.590 And I'm going to select the short mode. And you'll 0:08:07.590 --> 0:08:11.350 hear the the beeping. And the closer I get or 0:08:11.350 --> 0:08:15.790 the further away I get the softer the sound. Now 0:08:15.990 --> 0:08:20.270 it doesn't detect things that the the cane tip will 0:08:20.270 --> 0:08:24.110 pick up. It's designed to detect between things, between your 0:08:24.110 --> 0:08:29.190 waist and your head height. So as I approach this obstacle. 0:08:33.670 --> 0:08:36.710 You'll hear that it gets faster if I back away 0:08:36.710 --> 0:08:43.069 from it. It'll it'll the sound will will slow down 0:08:43.949 --> 0:08:49.269 if I set it to mid as an example. Now 0:08:49.270 --> 0:08:51.469 I haven't moved but it's picking it up where it 0:08:51.469 --> 0:08:56.610 wasn't on short mode. Okay. So it really depends on 0:08:56.609 --> 0:08:59.209 how you use the device as to, you know, how 0:08:59.209 --> 0:09:02.489 you might want that set up. Uh, as I said, 0:09:02.490 --> 0:09:07.530 I can also turn that off. So I've now turned 0:09:07.530 --> 0:09:11.250 it off and the cane is now just vibrating in 0:09:11.250 --> 0:09:13.929 my hand. The closer I get to the obstacle, the 0:09:13.929 --> 0:09:18.130 stronger the vibration. And as I back away, that vibration 0:09:18.130 --> 0:09:25.689 becomes less. So that's. That's the obstacle detection mode. Um, 0:09:25.890 --> 0:09:28.570 so as I said, you would use that. I'll just 0:09:28.569 --> 0:09:31.850 stop that for a moment. You would use that as 0:09:31.849 --> 0:09:37.489 a means of detecting things like overhanging branches. Um, perhaps 0:09:37.490 --> 0:09:41.170 a parked car or like a utility vehicle where the 0:09:41.170 --> 0:09:43.250 cane tip might go under the back of the tray, 0:09:43.250 --> 0:09:47.129 but you're likely to hit the tray. Um, you know, 0:09:47.170 --> 0:09:50.890 at stomach height or head height, that kind of thing. Um, 0:09:50.890 --> 0:09:54.459 so it does give you a little bit extra Protection 0:09:54.459 --> 0:09:58.500 than you would have using a conventional long cane. So 0:09:58.500 --> 0:10:02.660 that's that's the obstacle detection function to turn on the flashlight. 0:10:02.660 --> 0:10:04.739 If we're using the cane at night, we can press 0:10:04.740 --> 0:10:10.420 and hold the up arrow key flashlight on. And the 0:10:10.420 --> 0:10:13.980 flashlight is now on. And I'm told it's quite bright 0:10:13.979 --> 0:10:17.219 and quite visible. And if you've got a little bit 0:10:17.219 --> 0:10:20.780 of usable vision, you may also find it quite helpful. 0:10:21.300 --> 0:10:21.819 Flashlight. 0:10:22.459 --> 0:10:25.819 The other thing we can do is to press and 0:10:25.819 --> 0:10:28.380 hold the circular button, and that'll get us into our 0:10:28.380 --> 0:10:32.100 My Places menu. And that's where you can save your, um, 0:10:32.219 --> 0:10:35.300 your favorite locations and those sorts of things. So I'll 0:10:35.300 --> 0:10:39.140 just quickly show you that my places. So there it 0:10:39.140 --> 0:10:42.500 said my places. And if we press the circular button again. 0:10:46.219 --> 0:10:48.179 So that's obviously my home address. And if I use 0:10:48.179 --> 0:10:49.140 the arrow keys. 0:10:50.339 --> 0:10:52.459 373 Old Cleveland. 0:10:52.510 --> 0:10:53.030 Road. 0:10:53.870 --> 0:10:56.470 So that's how my work address, which is the Vision 0:10:56.469 --> 0:11:00.349 Australia office at Cooper, who I can then if I 0:11:00.349 --> 0:11:06.030 want to select that. We can select go there. 0:11:06.229 --> 0:11:13.390 373 Old Cleveland Road, Rota one transport 54 minutes walking 0:11:13.390 --> 0:11:15.510 then then walking. 0:11:16.429 --> 0:11:20.469 Okay, so that's given me a direction to walk to 0:11:20.469 --> 0:11:23.990 the local train station and catch the Cleveland line to 0:11:24.030 --> 0:11:26.030 Shorncliffe and then walk again. 0:11:26.829 --> 0:11:34.069 And that transport one hour ten minutes walking then then walking, okay, 150, 0:11:34.270 --> 0:11:37.309 then walking, then 209, then walking. 0:11:37.910 --> 0:11:39.949 So if I wanted to take a really convoluted route 0:11:39.949 --> 0:11:42.949 there instead, I could, uh, you know, I could have 0:11:42.949 --> 0:11:45.990 selected that option, which is a train, some walking and 0:11:45.990 --> 0:11:48.349 a couple of buses. So there's a couple of different 0:11:48.349 --> 0:11:50.189 ways of doing this, but there's a couple of things 0:11:50.189 --> 0:11:53.770 I suppose to note, from me, showing you that one 0:11:53.770 --> 0:11:58.170 is obviously that it is public transport aware, which is nice. Um, 0:11:58.170 --> 0:11:59.969 and that it does try to give you a few 0:11:59.969 --> 0:12:02.889 different options to get to your destination, and you can 0:12:02.929 --> 0:12:06.809 cycle through those using the arrow keys. So there we go, folks. 0:12:06.809 --> 0:12:09.050 Hopefully that gives you a little bit of an overview 0:12:09.050 --> 0:12:14.610 of the walk. Smart cane two. Um, I've certainly enjoyed 0:12:14.609 --> 0:12:17.250 using it. As I've mentioned on the program before, I 0:12:17.290 --> 0:12:21.849 am predominantly a dog user, but, um, I did take 0:12:21.849 --> 0:12:24.609 this over to the United States recently because I couldn't 0:12:24.609 --> 0:12:26.689 take my dog with me, and I did find it 0:12:26.729 --> 0:12:30.770 extremely helpful. I hope you've enjoyed this review. As always, 0:12:30.770 --> 0:12:33.369 if you have any questions, feel free to send me 0:12:33.370 --> 0:12:34.010 an email. 0:12:34.650 --> 0:12:37.329 Good on you, Damo. Damo McMorrow out on the track. 0:12:37.370 --> 0:12:41.649 They're putting the We Walk Smart Cane two through its paces. 0:12:41.849 --> 0:12:43.290 And if you'd like to find out more about the 0:12:43.329 --> 0:12:46.170 We Walk, you could check it out by going to 0:12:46.370 --> 0:12:56.420 the vision store of Vision Australia. That's shop.australia.shop.org. Whenever I 0:12:56.420 --> 0:12:59.459 want to find out something about a vision store product, 0:13:00.059 --> 0:13:02.979 I just go to the search button which is on 0:13:02.979 --> 0:13:07.099 the top of the home page, and from there you 0:13:07.099 --> 0:13:10.699 can enter the name of the product. In this case 0:13:10.699 --> 0:13:15.020 you just type. We walk w e w k. It's 0:13:15.020 --> 0:13:19.660 not case sensitive. And then the we walk references will 0:13:19.660 --> 0:13:23.219 come up and you can look at information about their 0:13:23.219 --> 0:13:28.979 48 inch, 54 inch or 59 inch products. So that's 0:13:28.979 --> 0:13:32.859 the We Walk available from the shop at Vision Australia. 0:13:33.260 --> 0:13:36.780 There's some very interesting info there about the product, the 0:13:36.780 --> 0:13:40.820 specifications and other details and links to a video as 0:13:40.819 --> 0:13:44.060 well that will explain more about it. And I believe 0:13:44.059 --> 0:13:49.839 it sells for $1,495. Now, before we go, a little 0:13:49.839 --> 0:13:52.679 note about this program. Talking tech has been going for 0:13:52.679 --> 0:13:57.119 around 13 years. If you're a regular listener to the show, 0:13:57.240 --> 0:14:01.360 you won't want to miss next week's Significant Edition, a 0:14:01.359 --> 0:14:07.920 very special presentation of talking tech. Now, a reminder that 0:14:07.959 --> 0:14:10.400 for details of what you can find in this and 0:14:10.400 --> 0:14:17.760 previous editions of the program, just go to VA. VA. Radio.com. 0:14:19.840 --> 0:14:21.080 And to right to the program. 0:14:21.080 --> 0:14:22.239 You can email me. 0:14:29.359 --> 0:14:34.080 At. This has been talking tech with me has been 0:14:34.080 --> 0:14:39.280 Vision Australia's national access technology manager Damien McMorrow. I'm Stephen Jolley. 0:14:39.320 --> 0:14:42.359 Take care. We'll talk more tech next week. Don't forget 0:14:42.359 --> 0:14:43.920 to tune in for it. See you.