How the Smart Walking Stick works
The Smart Walking Stick is a working research prototype, not a medical device and not available to buy. It is designed to deliver multimodal cueing for freezing of gait: three types of sensory signal, delivered together, from the handle of an ordinary walking stick.
One cueing cycle, step by step
One cueing cycle as the device is designed to deliver it: steady walking, a freezing episode, the stick's response, and the rhythm the cue is intended to restore.
Looping animated diagram. A person walks steadily. A freezing episode stops their feet. The walking stick responds with a rhythmic beat, a vibration in the handle and a laser line projected on the floor. The person steps over the line and the cue continues as they walk on.
- Walking steadilyThe user walks at their own natural rhythm.
- A freeze beginsMid-stride, the feet stop responding. This is freezing of gait.
- The stick cuesA steady beat, a gentle vibration in the handle and a laser line on the floor give the brain a rhythm to follow and a target to step over.
- Walking onThe cue keeps going, designed to give a steady rhythm to walk to.
A simplified illustration of one cueing cycle.
Heard, felt and seen
Each cue can be used on its own. Research into cueing reports that delivering them together is more effective than any single cue alone.
Rhythmic Auditory Stimulation
A clear, steady beat plays through a built-in speaker, like a metronome. Rhythmic auditory cueing has been studied in Parkinson's for decades. A 2018 systematic review and meta-analysis of 50 studies and 1,892 participants found an overall positive effect on walking speed and stride length. The Smart Walking Stick is designed to deliver that kind of cue. It has not itself been clinically tested.
Adjustable 60 to 140 BPM
Haptic Vibration Feedback
The handle vibrates gently in the user's hand in time with the audio beat. This physical, tactile cue can still be felt in noisy environments, or by users with hearing difficulties.
Felt through the handle
Visual Laser Cueing
A laser module projects a visible line onto the floor ahead. Stepping over a clear line is a well-established technique for initiating movement during a freeze: it gives the brain a visual target to aim for.
Planned improvement
Future iterations will use a green laser for better visibility, following feedback from people with Parkinson's who found it clearer under typical indoor lighting.
Ghai S, Ghai I, Schmitz G, Effenberg AO. Effect of rhythmic auditory cueing on parkinsonian gait: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Scientific Reports, 2018;8:506.
Control from a phone, wirelessly
A companion Android app controls the stick over Bluetooth. Each cue can be switched on or off independently, the beat speed adjusted in real time from 60 to 140 BPM to match the user's own walking pace, and everything driven by voice for hands-free use. The app also shows live movement data from the stick, records walking sessions for sharing with a physiotherapist, and keeps a short daily diary alongside the recorded data.
What's inside
The stick carries its own processor, motion sensing, a speaker, a vibration motor and a laser, powered by an internal rechargeable battery so it works untethered. Everything sits in a custom enclosure mounted to a standard walking stick, with a purpose-designed circuit board replacing the original prototype wiring.
Prototype 2
Complete
The second prototype has smaller, more efficient electronics for longer battery life, and adds physical buttons on the handle so the stick works without a phone at all.
Get in touch
If you are a clinician, researcher, funder or part of a Parkinson's organisation, I would genuinely love to hear from you. To follow along, you can register for occasional updates.