Florida teen creates AI cane that narrates surroundings, works offline and calls for help

Ishanvi Sabniveesu, a rising junior at Steinbrenner High School, earned second place at the Invention Convention U.S. Nationals for CareCane, an AI-enhanced walking cane that detects obstacles, describes the environment and can summon emergency assistance without internet.

Florida high-school junior Ishanvi Sabniveesu turned personal experience with glasses into an assistive technology project, creating CareCane—an AI-driven cane that alerts users to nearby objects and verbally maps their surroundings. After reviewing market options and gathering feedback from schools for the visually impaired, she chose a cane platform for stability and integrated sensors that emit a beep when an obstacle is close; a sustained alert triggers a camera that streams audio descriptions to Bluetooth headphones.

The system operates both online and offline, ensuring usability in areas lacking connectivity, and includes a fall-detection feature that can automatically call emergency contacts via a companion app. The prototype won second place at the Invention Convention U.S. Nationals following earlier success at a Hillsborough County STEM Fair. Sabniveesu has established CareCane LLC, secured a pending patent, and is pursuing additional functionalities such as voice commands while navigating FDA approval. She hopes the underlying technology could later be adapted for other medical devices like hospital beds and wheelchairs.