WeWALK Smart Cane — Sensor-Augmented Mobility Aid for Blind and Low-Vision Users

WeWALK's sensor attachment for the standard white cane was incubated by Young Guru Academy (YGA), an Istanbul-based nonprofit leadership programme, and first shown publicly at the TechShare Pro accessibility conference in London on 29 November 2018. Production and primary funding come from Vestel, a major Turkish/European consumer-electronics manufacturer, which builds the device at its Manisa factory.

The attachment adds an ultrasonic sensor that detects obstacles at chest height — a blind spot for a ground-sweeping cane alone — plus a gyroscope, accelerometer, compass, vibration motor and touchpad. It pairs over Bluetooth with a smartphone app for turn-by-turn Google Maps navigation and beta integration with Amazon Alexa.

By the time of its London launch in November 2018, WeWALK had already taken 1,500 customer orders across the UK, US and Turkey; the product has since gone on sale in more than 60 countries. In 2023, UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) awarded the company GBP 1.7 million to develop further AI-assisted navigation features.

The product has been recognised by Time's Best Inventions 2023, the King's Awards for Enterprise: Innovation 2024, the Edison Awards 2024 and an iF Product Design Award.

No independent, peer-reviewed trial of real-world mobility outcomes was identified in the sources reviewed. Reach, funding and awards are well documented by independent press and industry coverage, but structured evaluation evidence beyond vendor-reported figures and award-jury recognition is limited.

Read the full analysis: https://wewalk.io/en/