Obstacle aware cane among devices on show
Zakho Institute students showcase projects at tech festival
ZAKHO — The privately-run Zakho Institute hosted its second annual technology festival, showcasing a total of 42 diverse student projects and innovations in software and hardware, including two virtual reality projects.
Ayaz Khalid, the festival’s coordinator, told 964media that the students independently developed the showcased inventions, covering various fields such as robot programming, parking systems, security, and accounting systems.
Among the innovations was a cane designed for the visually impaired, equipped with a device capable of detecting obstacles within a 10 to 12 centimeter range, alerting the user.
“This cane significantly aids visually impaired individuals, reducing their reliance on direct assistance from others,” a student involved in the project stated.
The team spent over a month developing the cane, with parts sourced from Baghdad and China. While the technology could potentially be applied to other items, such as footwear, the decision to focus on a cane was made to maximize accessibility for users.