I've used Co-pilot to clear this review up a bit and make it more readable.
What's this Glide thing and why would I want one?
The Glide from Glidance is a small device that uses sensors to help you navigate. You can find out more on their website. Keep in mind their videos have pre-recorded audio because they didn't have a prototype back then.
What does it look like?
While I didn't spend a lot of time examining the device, I can tell you this: it's small and has a handle designed to fit comfortably in one hand. Your hand curves over the handle, and it's nice to hold.
According to my friend Amin, it has another handle near the ground so you can carry it when you don't need to use it. The wheels are similar in size to those on a pram or stroller—not huge, but not tiny either.
What does it feel like when using it?
Using the Glide feels smooth. You can hear the motor, but in the first version, it will be very quiet. When you walk with it, it feels nice and guides you around obstacles. For example, when it encountered a wall, it gently guided me away for safety reasons.
Honestly, if you can, I'd highly recommend checking it out. This review won't do it justice. I'm going to try to get the RNIB to have a test unit once it's out, and I recommend you ask your local blindness organizations to do the same.
I feel like this is a groundbreaking device that needs to be experienced to be truly understood.
Maps
Maps won't be available at launch, but the team expects to have them working with the device within six months of the launch date.
Final thoughts
According to my friend Amin, you'll be able to connect it to use VoiceOver through Bluetooth, and Soundscape will be integrated into the device. I've pre-ordered the unit and am very glad I did, as I truly believe this is a game-changer.
Comments
I know this doesn't tell you much but I did my best.
There's not really much you can say, this is one of those things that you have to check out to truely get a feel for it.
If you have any questions, feel free to ask and i'll do my best to answer.
Thanks
Thanks for taking the time to check it out and report back. 🙂👌
Questions...
A. What are the materials used? This goes for everything, base, handle, and the grip.
B. The teliscoping handle/cane, when you extend it to your prefered hight, does it lock in to that hight by twisting, like how it is for lot of normal teliscoping canes?
C. When you said you felt motors vibrating, did the device actually propelled itself, or motion was solely based on your physical push to the device?
D. What was the wait like? For 2-3 mins, is it okay to heft it around the flights of stairs and such?
E. Did you test navigating in crowded areas? Was the device able to navigate busy footpaths, shopping areas and such? If someone accidentally steps on it, would it break?
F. How was the haptick feedback, and the speaker output? In a busy streats with lot of cars and such, would you be able to here this device without earphones?
G. Were you able to over-power the device in situations, say it's guiding you towards left, but, you want to go to right for whatever reason? I know you make the choise initially, but, once you select 1 direction, what if I want to change my choise?
@SeasonKing.
I don't know the answer to most of these questions, I didn't go into that much detail when checking out the device but i'll do my best in answering what i can.
What's it made of: I can tell you that the device has plastic wheels,, and at the moment the device seams to be made of very hard plastic, with the stuff inside being made of motors and sensors and things like that.
The handle: when it comes to the handle, the guy had to raise it for me, I'm not exactly sure how he did it but I do know that I was holding it while he raised it, so I'm assuming he did something at the bass of the stick part of the handle, but could be wrong.
Walking: The way the device works, you can walk at your own speed, so I felt the device gently correcting my path,.
The guy had to control it using an app on his phone in the first part of this demo, if I knew I was allowed to try it for a bit longer I would have asked more questions but at the same time, I wanted as many people to try it as possible so don't feel bad that I rushed it a bit.
When I walked with the guy, you could feel the machine gently making sure you didn't vear to the right,, something I do a lot, so it felt like a bit of a tugging ssensation, it wasn't harsh but you'd notice it, again, keep in mind this is a prototype so the sensation could be even smoother when using the real thing.
Oh, when you have to turn around and do a UTurn? It felt lovely and smooth, there's no jarring with this thing at all.
In the free roming mode where the sensors took over, it was able to navigate me through a croud of people but I only had about 3 or so minutes with this thing.
The weight. I didn't try lifting it because the guy said that I needed to be gentle with it as it's a prototype but They're aiming for about 6 to 7 pounds but are thinking of making it a bit heavier as they've found that in testing the people prefered to feel the ground like with a cane. I'm fine with it being light personally but I'm ok either way.
Outside testing: I wasn't able to test it outside but you do get a 30 day testing piriod and can get a full refund.
Haptic feedback: I didn't get to try the haptic feedback in the handle and for me at least, there was no voice output stuff, according to my friend AMin, he got to hear it but I don't know what it said, i'll ask him to make a reply here as he went into much more detail than I did when testing it.
Correcting the device: I don't know if you can correct the device, it's meant to take you on the safest path around thing so I don't know if they'd let you do that.
I'd recommend writing to them using the following email address: gliders@glidance.io