Smart handle
Camera, AI processor, haptics and battery, integrated into one ergonomic grip.
Physical AI · ETH Zurich
Physical AI for every step you take.
NextGuide is a smart cane that perceives the space ahead, understands it, and guides you with a tactile pointer under your thumb. All on the device.
Featured in
- NZZ
- Tages-Anzeiger
- ETH Zürich
- Netzwoche
- Swisstech
- Venture Kick
In action
Guidance you feel under your thumb.
As you walk, the pointer on top of the handle turns toward the free path. No audio, no screen, no learning curve.
More demosThe problem
The white cane has barely changed in a hundred years.
A cane only finds an obstacle by touching it. It can’t tell a door from a wall or see a crossing ahead.
NextGuide keeps the cane people already trust and adds what it has always lacked: the ability to see the space ahead and show the way through it.
43 million
people worldwide were blind in 2020.
295 million
more lived with moderate to severe visual impairment.
Source: GBD 2019 Blindness and Vision Impairment Collaborators, The Lancet Global Health, 2021.
How it works
Perceive. Understand. Plan. Guide.
NextGuide runs the same loop that lets intelligent machines move through the real world, then hands the decision to the person holding the cane.
Perceive
A camera and a dedicated AI processor in the handle build a live picture of the space ahead.
Understand
Multimodal AI recognises what matters: free space, obstacles, doors, crossings and stairs.
Plan
A learned navigation model finds a safe path through the scene in real time.
Guide
A tactile pointer and distinct vibration cues turn the plan into something you feel. You stay in control.
Runs fully on the device
Real time
No connection needed
Why physical AI
AI is leaving the screen and entering the physical world.
Robots and autonomous vehicles already use AI to perceive, reason and move safely through complex spaces. NextGuide brings that capability to the person walking: a cane that understands its surroundings and turns that understanding into guidance.
Edge AI hardware
A dedicated AI processor inside the handle. No cloud, no phone, no connection required.
Scene understanding
Multimodal AI that understands context, not just distance: doors, crossings, stairs and free space.
Human in the loop
NextGuide suggests, you decide. Guidance is felt, not forced, and the cane still works as a cane.
The device
Everything in the handle.
Designed around the white cane people already know, with the intelligence built into the grip.
Tactile pointer
Rotates under the thumb to show the free path.
On-device AI
Perception, understanding and planning run locally, in real time.
Private by design.
Carbon fibre shaft
Lightweight for all-day use and folds for the bag.
Press & recognition
What others say.
“A camera is installed in its slightly enlarged handle. This detects the surroundings and recognizes possible obstacles even before the cane touches them.”
“The cane lets the person feel whether they are standing in front of a door, a pedestrian crossing or stairs.”
“This smart cane makes life easier for the visually impaired.”
ETH ZurichDeveloped by ETH engineers
CYBATHLONPresented with ETH Zurich at REHACARE
Venture KickEarly-stage funding
About
Built by an ETH engineer.
Alexander Bayer
Founder
MSc ETH Zurich in Electrical Engineering and Information Technology, with a thesis on AI-based navigation for blind and visually impaired people. Background in autonomous driving and safety-critical systems.
Contact
Let’s talk.
We’re preparing the next stage of development and certification. We’d love to hear from investors, press and potential partners.
Investors
Learn about our roadmap and the opportunity.
Request the deckPress
Interviews, images and background information.
Contact pressPartners
Research, clinical and industry collaborations.
Get in touch
Or write to us directly:
info@next-guide.com