Work Forest: Good Vibrations

Mad Science. (Superheroes have been made with far less.)

a bat, and a high-tech wristwatch.

Two professors and a group of Wake Forest students explored the echolocation abilities of bats in order to help the visually impaired better navigate daily life. The end result? Sonar that identifies objects and warns the wearer through vibrations, all conveniently located on the user's wrist.

It detects vertical barriers such as walls and guardrailes and can even notify the user whether a door is open or closed.

Future plans include detection of curbs, stairway edges and platforms, and even the possibility of integrating with building technology to provide a clearer picture of navigation.

To be continued ...

Good Vibrations

A True Team Effort

Under the guidance of Professors Paul Pauca and Bill Connor, Jack Janes, a senior computer science major; Dominic Prado, a senior biology major; and Ran Chang, a sophomore computer science major, began brainstorming around the echolocation idea during the first STEM incubator meeting of the Fall 2014 semester.

“The vision of the STEM incubator is to pair upperclassmen from possibly different science fields together with undeclared freshman and sophomores,” Pauca said. “One of the goals is to foster horizontal relationships between students, meaning that they are learning from each other, but also vertical relationships with their faculty mentors.”

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