3 ms·
As someone who’s lost most of my proprioceptic sense of balance[0], I use a cane for two things. The main one is as replacement sense of balance; having the can
by bashinator 5y ago
As someone who’s lost most of my proprioceptic sense of balance[0], I use a cane for two things. The main one is as replacement sense of balance; having the cane resting even very lightly on the ground fills in some gaps left by my feet and gives me a feel for my orientation. The cane is also helpful in minimizing risk from falls. That’s where I think there’s room for some improvements. If my had a way of detecting either that I was tipping over, or (easier), that I’ve hit the ground very hard with the tip, and were able to deploy some additional stabilization, that would be really helpful.
[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proprioception https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proprioception
- saulrh 5y agoI've seen some studies saying that hats with gyroscopes are effective, but they focused almost entirely on an exotic output device that worked via sensory substitution. What am I missing about "hat with gyroscopes and tiny servos that tap you on the side of the head in the direction that's down"? I assume that's the first thing that everyone would try but I haven't heard about it being a common medical device, so there must be something wrong with it. Or is it the "deploy some additional stabilization" step that's missing? Can't think of a realistic way to do that, true. Anything solid enough and deployed quickly enough to be useful would be dangerous. Can't just beef up the cane, you'd have already tried that if it was useful.
- bashinator 5y agoCould be as simple as spring-loaded extra feet that lock into place.