Smart Cane' Brings Tech Advances to Visually Impaired

Blind Turkish entrepreneur Kursat Ceylan, 35, cofounder of Wewalk technology, uses his smart cane, as he arrives at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona, Spain, June 29, 2021. (Reuters)
Blind Turkish entrepreneur Kursat Ceylan, 35, cofounder of Wewalk technology, uses his smart cane, as he arrives at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona, Spain, June 29, 2021. (Reuters)
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Smart Cane' Brings Tech Advances to Visually Impaired

Blind Turkish entrepreneur Kursat Ceylan, 35, cofounder of Wewalk technology, uses his smart cane, as he arrives at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona, Spain, June 29, 2021. (Reuters)
Blind Turkish entrepreneur Kursat Ceylan, 35, cofounder of Wewalk technology, uses his smart cane, as he arrives at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona, Spain, June 29, 2021. (Reuters)

White sticks used by the visually impaired to help them get about have had a hi-tech makeover, with a "smart cane" that doesn't just detect obstacles but can also give users information about the shops and restaurants they are passing.

The device is the brain-child of Kursat Ceylan, a Turkish inventor who was born blind and had an accident three years ago that left him scarred as he struggled to navigate while pulling luggage and checking GPS directions through his smartphone.

He helped to set up WeWALK, a tech company that has created an electronic handle for the top of a cane. It uses ultrasound to detect obstacles, can be paired with a smartphone and gives voice feedback to help keep the user safe and informed.

"We are providing an opportunity to visually impaired people to be a part of the social life," Ceylan, aged 35, told Reuters at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, where the company is pitching for the title of "best impact startup."

He said the foldable cane, priced at $599, was already being used by thousands of visually impaired people in 59 countries, and WeWALK was working with companies including Microsoft to add more features.

"As you know, we are thinking about fully autonomous vehicles ... WeWALK is a device to provide a fully autonomous blind journey to visually impaired people," Ceylan said.



Dell Forecasts Downbeat Fourth-Quarter Revenue on PC Weakness

The logo of Dell Technologies at the Milipol Paris, the worldwide exhibition dedicated to homeland security and safety, in Villepinte near Paris, France, November 15, 2023. (Reuters)
The logo of Dell Technologies at the Milipol Paris, the worldwide exhibition dedicated to homeland security and safety, in Villepinte near Paris, France, November 15, 2023. (Reuters)
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Dell Forecasts Downbeat Fourth-Quarter Revenue on PC Weakness

The logo of Dell Technologies at the Milipol Paris, the worldwide exhibition dedicated to homeland security and safety, in Villepinte near Paris, France, November 15, 2023. (Reuters)
The logo of Dell Technologies at the Milipol Paris, the worldwide exhibition dedicated to homeland security and safety, in Villepinte near Paris, France, November 15, 2023. (Reuters)

Dell forecast fourth-quarter revenue below Wall Street expectations on Tuesday, weighed down by weaker demand for its traditional PCs and competition from rival server makers, sending its shares down more than 10% in extended trading.

Despite booming demand for the company's AI-optimized servers used to handle large artificial intelligence workloads, Dell's PC segment has been grappling with stiff competition from rivals and weak consumer spending amid an uncertain economy.

Enterprise customers are being mindful of their PC and IT spending in the short term, Dell executives said on a post-earnings conference call, adding that the company's consumer business was weaker than expected.

Dell forecast fourth-quarter revenue between $24 billion and $25 billion. The average analyst estimate is $25.57 billion, according to data compiled by LSEG.

"The entire PC market is in a transition period and moving towards on-device AI functionality which still isn't that defined and is expected to solidify in 2025," Gadjo Sevilla, senior analyst for AI and Tech at Emarketer, said.

Revenue from Dell's client solutions group, which houses its PC business, came in at $12.13 billion, below expectations of $12.43 billion.

Rival PC maker HP also provided a weak first-quarter profit forecast, while electronics retailer Best Buy trimmed its annual forecasts against the backdrop of weak consumer electronics demand.

Investors are also keenly eyeing Dell's costs after the company flagged in May that higher expenses to build AI-heavy servers and competitive pricing would hurt its margins.

"Interest in our portfolio is at an all-time high, driving record AI server orders demand of $3.6 billion in Q3 and a pipeline that grew more than 50%," Dell's Chief Operating Officer Jeff Clarke said on Tuesday.

Revenue from the company's infrastructure solutions group unit, which houses its AI servers business, rose 34% to $11.37 billion and beat estimates.

Dell reported revenue of $24.37 billion in the third quarter, missing estimates of $24.67 billion.