ABSTRACT
Acknowledgments............................................................................................... 297 References............................................................................................................. 297
Despite.the.high.numbers.of.visually.impaired.individuals.who.need.sensory. substitutes.for.locomotion,.science.has.not.had.great.success.heretofore.with. improving.the.tools.and.techniques.that.were.developed.in.an.earlier.era.. This.is.noteworthy.in.that.there.are.few.human.needs.for.which.the.state.of. the.art.in.1900.has.not.been.improved..Humans.do.not.travel.long.distances. the.same.way.they.did.a.century.ago,.nor.do.they.communicate,.medicate,.or. even.entertain.themselves.in.the.same.way..On.the.other.hand,.some.form.of. cane.for.locomotion.dates.back.for.millennia,.according.to.a.historical.analysis.(Blasch.and.Suckey,.1995)..The.same.historical.survey.dates.the.use.of.a. long.cane.rather.than.a.cane.equivalent.to.a.walking.stick.to.1950.after.an. unsuccessful.proposal.in.the.1870s..But.the.cane.and.guide.dog.are.still.the. prevalent.sensory.substitutes.for.active.blind.persons,.despite.dozens.of.travel. innovations.designed.to.replace.them.and.hundreds.of.scholarly.papers.on. the.subject..High-tech.travel.aids.are.available,.but.they.are.largely.ignored. by.the.market.demographic.of.active.blind.and.visually.impaired.persons.. The.adoption.of.the.long.cane.is.arguably.the.last.popular.innovation.in.this. travel.tool..A.telling.manifestation.of.this.trend.is.given.by.a.survey.of.the. history.of.education.for.the.blind.and.visually.impaired.in.Ukraine.(Groza,. 1985)..The.substantial.improvements.in.education.that.were.reported.since. medieval.times.and.in.the.last.century.or.so.were.almost.exclusively.related. to.improvements.in.attitude,.such.as.changing.perspectives.on.whether.the. blind.students.should.be.trained.in.niche.skills.or.to.interact.with.the.larger. community..No.progress.was.reported.in.the.tools.available.to.the.blind.person;.an.analogous.survey.for.any.other.nation.with.a.good.record.of.education.for.the.blind.would.show.a.similar.pattern.
