The Challenge 

Exercising is the best way to keep our bodies healthy. Many take that for granted but unfortunately, some people are never going to experience exercising like the rest. Blind people may find even the easiest exercises hard to complete and would need additional person to support them. In Paralympic swimming competitions, each contestant gets their own “tapper”, who uses a foam stick to tap the contestant if they are about to swim into the wall or out of their lane. This means, that it is almost impossible for blind people to swim on their own if they are not professionals.

The Solution

The solution to the high dependability for blind swimmers is Cybersense. Cybersense is a system that consists of wearable sensors in the form of wristbands , swimming hat, and static sensors placed along the swimming pool lanes and walls. The wearable sensors communicate wirelessly with the static sensors and provide feedback to the wearer by vibrating. Like that, swimmers are going to get fast and reliable information on their direction of movement and can make appropriate adjustments. Moreover, the system eliminates the need of “tappers” to constantly monitor the swimmer and will allow more people to swim independently for a hobby.

The Mission

The mission of Cybersense is to provide unlimited experience to the limited people. Nobody wishes to be dependent on other people for everyday tasks and nobody has a say on whether they want to become blind or not. Cybersense will provide an opportunity for blind people to live more independently. This is going to boost their confidence, because they will be able to swim just like normal people do. Hopefully Cybersense will be the first of many products aimed at improving the quality of life for disabled people.

This project is being coached by