In this interview with Kursat Ceylan, the founding partner of WeWALK, which develops technology products in order to facilitate the lives of visually impaired people and ensure their full participation in social life, we talked about the company’s vision, the innovative Smart Cane technology they have developed, and other projects that make life easier for visually impaired individuals. Kursat has shared with us how WeWALK is following a path to increase the independent mobility abilities of visually impaired people, as well as the experiences they have gained in this process.
Hi Kursat, can you please talk about yourself a bit?
I am Kursat Ceylan, a visually impaired individual from birth. I am the co-founder of WeWALK, which has developed patented Smart Cane technology for the full and equal participation of visually impaired people in social life. After attending elementary school in a boarding school for the blind, I completed high school. After that, I earned a degree in Psychological Counseling at Bogazici University and graduated from there. During those years, I studied psychology in the US for a semester. During my university years, I was selected from among 50 thousand applications and accepted to the YGA Social Innovation Program. I entered the world of technology with my friends, whom I met at the same program and with whom we launched WeWALK. As a team, we had developed different technologies for the visually impaired people even before WeWALK. However, all our experiences have taught us that in order to ensure the participation of visually impaired people in social life, it is necessary to improve the mobility of visually impaired individuals first, and we started working on WeWALK. Currently, I am also responsible for international growth in our WeWALK New York office.
Can you give general information about WeWALK company and
Smart Walking Cane?
WeWALK is a company that aims at the full and equal participation of visually impaired people in social life and develops technologies for this purpose. Our founding team consists of members who have both personal and professional visually impaired experiences, are closely aware of the daily difficulties that limit their independence, and are working on technologies that will overcome these difficulties. Our determination to overcome these challenges and create tangible changes in people’s lives forms the basis of our work.
The story of WeWALK actually goes back 15 years. Our founding team met the young people at YGA, a non-governmental organization, and started working on joint projects then. This group, including visually impaired individuals, has first developed different software solutions and won global awards. But then they decided to focus on the white cane, which has an important role in the lives of visually impaired people. The story of WeWALK Smart Cane actually started with a simple question: Why the white cane has hardly changed over a century while all technologies have advanced?
Our founding team aimed to fill this gap by combining the traditional white cane with the latest technology. This journey, which started as a project at YGA, has grown into a company supported by partners such as Imperial College London, the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) and Microsoft. These developing technologies will improve the lives of visually impaired people around the world. Our work has been awarded many global awards, such as the King’s Award for Enterprise in Innovation (UK) and TIME Magazine – Invention of the Year. Our close relations with the community, our professional knowledge, and our valuable partnerships encourage us to be more innovative and push the boundaries further every day.
“This journey, which started as a project at YGA, has grown into a company supported by partners such as Imperial College London, the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) and Microsoft.
These developing technologies will improve the lives of visually impaired people around the world.”
During the development of our new technology, Smart Cane 2, the device was equipped with advanced sensors in order to provide more information about environmental obstacles. It can work integrated with smartphones via features such as GPS, Bluetooth, microphone and speaker and all functions are controlled either by the keys on the cane or through the voice assistant system. These technological innovations allow users to live a more independent and safer experience in their daily lives. Our Smart Walking Cane combines modern technology with the functions of a traditional white walking cane, allowing users to better perceive their surroundings and move more comfortably. We are also pleased to work with Özdisan for the production of our new generation Smart Walking Cane.
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What differentiates WeWALK Smart Walking Can from others, and what specific advantages does it offer?
Visually impaired people use white canes in their daily lives. White canes, which have been used for more than 100 years, are an important symbol for the visually impaired. For the first time ever, these canes met with the latest technology that we have developed. WeWALK Smart Walking Cane 2 is a mobility assistant that increases the independent mobility and safety of visually impaired people, making their lives easier and more practical.
In addition to detecting obstacles on the ground, this advanced cane detects obstacles at chest and head level with the help of sensors on it. These detection features greatly increase the ability to move much more safely in different environments. The smart cane also includes a high-quality intelligent voice assistant. This allows users to interact with the device by voice. Users can ask for directions, get travel tips or easily request information about nearby places with only voice commands. This interaction is carried out via a Bluetooth connection, offering both comfort and safety during travel.
Also, WeWALK Smart Cane 2 offers a comprehensive travel experience that supports effective route planning and multimodal navigation options. With the real-time public transport information provided through Moovit collaboration, it also allows users to travel more independently and avoid missing important updates in the transportation system. With “What’s Around Me?” feature, it helps the user to explore all the surrounding places (cafes, restaurants etc.). The design of the smart cane is both stylish and durable, and made to withstand various weather conditions. Its lightweight but robust structure makes it an ideal daily helping companion. Combining the traditional white cane functions with modern technology, it allows visually impaired people to move around more freely and safely.
“In addition to Smart Cane, we are also working on additional technologies aimed at improving
the quality of life of visually impaired people.”
What is the Level of WeWALK Smart Cane to meet user expectations and make their life easier?
According to the feedbacks we have received from our users, the Smart Cane significantly increases the sense of independence of visually impaired individuals. Especially in complex urban environments, the obstacle detection and voice guidance features of the cane provide great convenience. Users are able to perform their daily tasks alone with less need for help, and participate in social life more actively.
What are the other technologies you have developed besides the Smart Cane?
In addition to Smart Cane, we are also working on additional technologies aimed at improving the quality of life of visually impaired people. Visually impaired people not only go from Point A to Point B with a smart cane, but actually get out of their homes and participate in social life. But they may still need visual support at home or wherever they go. For this reason, our DANIS (WeASSIST) service that we have
developed is a visual service that allows users to act more independently in their daily activities by receiving live support from our professional assistants.
Under a cooperation with TAV Airports, visually impaired people can now receive free routing services through DANIS, from the airport’s entrance gate to the plane’s gate. This service also allows them to act independently in areas such as lounge and duty free. Under a sponsorship by LC Waikiki, on the other hand, visually impaired people can use DANIS service for free to learn some details such as the patterns or sizes of clothes, enabling them to comfortably shop via LC Waikiki’s online shopping platforms. Under a cooperation with Akra Hotels, visually impaired people can benefit from DANIS service 24/7 when they need visual support at hotels in Antalya, Kemer, Side and Fethiye. These cooperations further support visually impaired people to live an independent social life via DANIS service, and open the doors to accessible tourism. We are also continuing our efforts with different industries to make such cooperations available to more visually impaired individuals.
In addition, by using different equipment such as ground direction sensors, gyroscope, accelerometer, compass etc., we have developed our AIM (Artificial Intelligence for Mobility) technology, which will fundamentally change the independent movement training. Visually impaired people can receive independent mobility trainings given by independent movement instructors. With the approach provided by AIM technology, trainings can be given not only based on observation, but also in a more data-oriented way. In addition, Independent Movement Instructors can monitor, analyze and guide the movements of visually impaired students in more detail with this technology. The AIM technology we have developed increases users’ mobility and improves their navigation skills by analyzing cane usage data.
What projects are you working on for visually impaired people as WeWALK, and what are the goals of these projects?
As WeWALK, we are developing various projects to facilitate their daily lives and enable them to participate more actively in social life by delivering our Smart Canes to the visually impaired individuals. One of our major projects is to provide Smart Walking Canes for visually impaired war veterans in Türkiye within the scope of a special protocol. In this way, we help them adapt to their “new situations in life” more easily. Another project we are carrying out in cooperation with the Ministry of National Education is aimed at accelerating the adaptation of visually impaired students to educational and social life by providing access to technology at an early age. Through individual donations, private company supports and our collaborations with several foundations, we are trying to deliver Smart Canes to more visually impaired people and increase their independence in society by taking more active roles. By improving our technology every day, we aim to make positive and permanent changes in the lives of visually impaired people. WeWALK and Özdisan teams started to promote the product at CES exhibition. If you want to support our technology to reach more people, please contact us at [email protected].
