PCB assemblies enable novel electronic cane

GSPK Electronics is providing printed circuit board electronics assembly services to Roecliffe based Sound Foresight, originator of the UltraCane.

GSPK Electronics is providing printed circuit board electronics assembly services to Roecliffe based Sound Foresight, originator of the UltraCane, a novel electronic mobility product designed to help the vision impaired to get around easily and safely.

Sound Foresight, set up in 1998 by researchers at the University of Leeds, states that the UltraCane provides mobility assistance to blind and partially sighted people by emitting ultrasonic waves, just like the echolocation system used by bats and dolphins.

Since 2005 GSPK Electronics have taken responsibility of producing the electronics assemblies which enable the UltraCane to emit ultrasonic waves and feed information through to the buttons on the handle, telling you how far away an object is, and whether it is in front of you or at head height.

The ability for the electronically powered UltraCane to provide users, often elderly users, with more knowledge about their surrounding environment, enables them to make decisions much more quickly than is possible with an ordinary white cane and ultimately give them more confidence.

As UltraCane's popularity increases (it is available in Australia, Austria, Belgium, Germany, Iran, Japan, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, UK and USA), GSPK Electronics assembly services ensure that the UltraCane Company's Electronics manufacturing needs are effectively project managed and are fully met.

For GSPK the service it provides is of particular significance as the company is a keen supporter of Age Concern Knaresborough, a charity dedicated to the rights and well being of the elderly.

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