When you think of Honda you probably think of driving not walking, but the motor company has just launched a new startup to develop an in-shoe navigation system to support the visually impaired with walking.
The navigation system is called Ashirase, and is composed of a smartphone app and a three-dimensional vibration device/motion sensor that is attached to the shoe. Based on the route that’s imputed into the app, the shoe device will vibrate to provide navigation instructions. To instruct the user to go straight, the vibrator position on the front part of the foot vibrates. When the user approaches a turn, the sensor will vibrate either the left or the right side of the foot.