Building an offline, on-phone street guide for blind walkers: a cue-by-cue design
A prototype that turns a phone or camera glasses into short spoken street cues for blind and low-vision walkers.
Visit walkcue.comPicture a night sidewalk in New York. A person with a white cane is walking toward a corner. A bike is parked off to the right, someone is coming straight ahead, and a car is turning on the left. The cane finds the ground at their feet. Nothing tells them what is at head height or fifteen feet out. That gap is what we are working on with WalkCue, and we want to be exact from the first paragraph: it is a prototype, and it is for use with a cane or guide dog, never instead.
What is WalkCue?
WalkCue turns camera glasses or a phone camera into short spoken cues for blind and low-vision people. It runs on the phone and works offline. The tagline is "The street, spoken." It is a product of LIKE A KING INC., a software studio in New York, and it is labeled a prototype and a project in development throughout.
What problem does it solve?
The site cites two facts for why now. About 7 million people in the United States have a vision impairment, and 1 million of them are blind (source linked to the CDC). And Ray-Ban and Oakley Meta smart glasses sold 7 million units in 2025, each with a camera at eye level and open-ear speakers (source linked: EssilorLuxottica via UploadVR). The camera is already on people's faces. The missing piece is software that says only what matters.
How does it work?
See. Smart glasses, or a phone worn on a chest strap, look ahead.
Understand. A small model checks each frame about ten times a second, on the phone. Nothing is uploaded. It keeps working with no signal.
Speak only what matters. Each cue starts with a short beep in the ear on the side of the hazard, then a few words. Warnings go first. When the path is clear, it stays quiet so you can hear the street. A bench beside your path is said once, not repeatedly. Quiet mode skips things beside your path and keeps warnings and Find.
The site publishes the exact words it speaks today. Examples: "Person coming ahead, 8 feet. Step left." "Car coming left, 20 feet. Wait." "Bench left, 10 feet." "Phone, slightly right, about 2 feet. Turn right."
Crossings. It reports the color of the light and what is moving, then leaves the decision to you. A vehicle always means Wait, never Step. It never says a crossing is safe. A cue like "Light looks red, ahead. Check traffic." is the ceiling.
Find and remember. Ask by voice: "find my phone," then keys. It guides your head, then your hand. You can teach it your own wallet, keys or ID with three photos, and save your home so "take me home" works. A helper can set the app up for someone through a QR code, and the helper's phone receives settings, never photos, places or consent.
Tested before it talks. Scripted street scenes run on every update, including "a car means Wait, never Step."
Brains for questions. Warnings always come from the fast detector on the phone. For questions, reading signs, or an optional "Look as I walk" mode, you can add an online model with your own API key. That sends a camera photo and your words to the company you chose, only after you agree. Downloadable on-phone models are also offered, which work offline after one download.
Who is it for?
Blind and low-vision walkers who want an extra channel alongside their cane or guide dog. A second audience is partners: companies that make camera glasses, and orientation and mobility programs.
How much does it cost?
No price is stated. There is no account. The web app is open to try.
How is it different from the obvious alternatives?
Cane and guide dog: these remain the primary mobility tools. WalkCue is additive and says so repeatedly. Smartphone scene-description and object-recognition apps are widely used and valuable. Our design differs in being spatial and sparse: side-of-ear beeps, warnings first, silence otherwise, and a fixed rule set on crossings. Human-assist services connect a person to a live video feed; WalkCue is automatic and works offline, but a human can do things it cannot. We would rather you use all of them than any one of them.
What it can't do yet
This is the most important section, and the site keeps a "Still learning" list, last updated 25 October 2026. It does not detect yet: curbs, steps, drop-offs, holes and uneven ground; doors, glass doors and glass walls; low branches, signs and anything at head height; crosswalks and pedestrian walk signals. Poles, bollards and scooters, and quiet, fast, turning or reversing vehicles, are caught only some of the time. Darkness, glare, rain and snow make it worse. The app says: keep using your cane or guide dog.
Other limits: it is a prototype, not a medical device. Photos on the site are concept illustrations and the glasses shown are not a real product. The supervised pilot has not happened yet.
What's next?
The next step is a supervised pilot: 8 weeks, 10 to 20 blind or low-vision walkers, each with an orientation and mobility instructor. It would measure near-misses, warnings given and missed, routes completed, and confidence before and after. Partners would get devices for the pilot, training and the full results. We move items off the "can't detect" list only when tests on real routes show they work.
The business behind it
The site presents this as an investor and partner opportunity, and we will frame it as intent. The thesis: eye-level cameras and open-ear speakers are shipping in the millions, so the missing layer is software that earns trust. Distribution would come through camera-glasses makers and the pilot. The stated plan is to produce measured results that partners can use with funders and payers. We have no verified usage numbers or revenue and are not citing any. The defensibility we are aiming for is a record of tested behavior on real routes and a conservative safety stance that does not loosen without evidence.
FAQ
Does video leave my phone?
No video is uploaded. Only three things can leave it: the Talk button (which uses your browser's speech recognition), an online brain if you turn one on, and a message you send us.
Does it tell me when it's safe to cross?
Never. It reports the light's color and tells you to check traffic.
Does it replace my cane?
No. Use it with your cane or dog, never instead.
Do I need an account?
No.
Can I try it?
Yes, in the browser at app.walkcue.com. There is also a "hear a walk" demo on the site.
Try it: https://walkcue.com
Written with AI assistance and reviewed by the LIKE A KING INC. team. LIKE A KING INC. is a software studio in New York.