University of Arkansas at Little Rock researchers are inventing a "smart" cane that will help guide visually impaired users with a Flash LADAR (laser detection and ranging) sensor that provides a more detailed "picture" of the physical environment.

Dr. Cang Ye, associate professor of applied science in UALR's Donaghey College of Engineering and Information Technology, and his team developed computer vision methods that will be refined and implemented in the Portable Blind Navigational Devices (PBNDs) by the end of the project.

Ye and his team hope to create computer software that can detail where a staircase or a doorway is located in a room, where a drop-off in the floor exists, or where an overhead bulkhead can be found. The core technology is 3D data segmentation. Once the program is created, it can be installed in a portable cane to provide this information orally to the user.